FAYETTEVILLE -- A teen is facing multiple adult charges in connection with the shooting death of a woman in Fayetteville earlier this month.
Police said in a post on Facebook officers were called to 29 W. Village Lake Drive at 8:36 p.m. Jan. 13 for a report of a shooting.
A 19-year-old woman was found in a parking lot at the scene with an apparent gunshot wound to her chest. The woman was unresponsive, and officers immediately began lifesaving efforts. The woman was taken to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Police on Wednesday identified the victim as Trinity Costales of Fayetteville.
Detectives determined it was a homicide, according to the release. A suspect was identified and brought in for questioning.
Dayton Medcalf, 17, is now charged as an adult in Washington County Circuit Court with manslaughter and being a minor in possession of a handgun, subsequent offense. Both charges are felonies.
According to a preliminary police report provided by prosecutors, Medcalf and Costales were sitting in a car alone when the shooting happened. Medcalf told police Costales was his girlfriend.
Medcalf told police the driver of the car, Smithdarius Wright, had gotten out and gone to an apartment, leaving him and Costales alone in the car, and Wright also left a pistol in the car. He told police, "I moved the gun and it went off."
Wright told police he returned to the car to find Medcalf distraught and Costales hanging partially out of the rear seat of the vehicle and bleeding from the mouth.
Wright said he removed Costales and laid her on the pavement in the parking lot then removed a gun Medcalf earlier tried to sell him from the front seat of the vehicle, removed the magazine and cleared the weapon then placed it on the pavement before driving away. Wright contacted his mother then called 911, according to the report.
Wright told police Medcalf earlier tried to sell him several stolen items, including a stolen semiautomatic pistol. Wright said he refused to buy the stolen items.
Medcalf was brought to the Police Department and placed in an interview room alone, according to the report. While in the room police say Medcalf looked at the ceiling and said, "I thought it was unloaded. I'm sorry."
But, during a subsequent interview, Medcalf told police Wright tossed the gun into the car where it struck the dash or console and went off, striking Costales.
Medcalf later told police Wright was in the car manipulating the firearm and it went off, striking Costales.
Police said the pistol was found underneath Costales when they arrived and the magazine was found in a grassy area nearby. Medcalf had no explanation for how the gun ended up under Costales or how the magazine came to be where it was found, they said.
According to the manslaughter charge, Medcalf recklessly caused the death of another person.
On the gun charge, prosecutors say Medcalf previously was found guilty or adjudicated delinquent in Juvenile Court for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult and that he later possessed a handgun.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Diane Warren.
Medcalf is being held at the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center. He could be moved to the Washington County Detention Center after he turns 18, according to prosecutors.
Manslaughter, if convicted, is punishable by three to 10 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction and a fine of up to $10,000. The firearm charge is punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.