On February 27, 2018, 26-year-old Jessica Thornton was found dead behind a vehicle off Integrity Road near Marshall, Arkansas. Responding deputies and Arkansas State Police located a pistol under her right hand, a rifle beneath her body, a spent shell casing near her, and another casing inside the vehicle. An autopsy found blunt force trauma to the head and a gunshot wound; the medical examiner concluded the gunshot was not consistent with being self-inflicted, and investigators treated the death as a homicide.

The initial call came from 30-year-old Matthew Armstrong of Marshall, who told authorities a woman had shot herself. Deputies recorded inconsistencies between Armstrong’s account and the physical evidence at the scene. Armstrong was arrested March 1, 2018, and charged with first-degree murder. A jury trial was held in April 2019 resulting in a conviction.

If anyone knew Jessica, was in the Marshall area on February 27, 2018, or has information about what happened at the barn off Integrity Road, please come forward.