JERSEY BRIDGEMAN - 6 yo / Accused: Neighbor; Zachary Dewayne Holly- Bentonville AR

Police question sex offenders over murder of 6 year old girl found yards from her home-a year after father was jailed for chaining her to a dresser

Jersey Bridgeman was in care of her biological mother DesaRae Bridgeman at the time of her death

Her body was found in a vacant house close to where she lives with her mother and mother's boyfriend

Police have classified her death as a homicide

Father and stepmother both serving prison sentences for child abuse

11/23/2012

Her mother, DesaRae Bridgeman, said she last saw her daughter around midnight, before reporting her missing around 6:30 am. Authorities found her body about 10 minutes later.



Tragic: Jersey Bridgeman was chained to a dresser last year by her father and stepmom before moving to live with her biological mother.

Birthday: Jersey turned six-years-old last week


Arkansas police are questioning registered sex offenders in their investigation into the death of a six-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned home just 200 feet from where she lived with her mother.

Jersey Bridgeman, whose father and stepmother were jailed last year for chaining her to a dresser, disappeared from her bedroom at her home in Bentonville, on Monday night.

Her mother, DesaRae Bridgeman, said she last saw her daughter around midnight, before reporting her missing around 6:30am. Authorities found her body approximately 10 minutes later.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2237504/Police-question-sex-offenders-death-tragic-year-old-girl-murdered-YARDS-home--year-father-jailed-keeping-chained-dresser.html#ixzz2DBuADWTT

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Police question sex offenders over murder of six-year-old girl found yards from her home - a year after father was jailed for chaining her to a dress

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2237504/Police-question-sex-offenders-death-tragic-year-old-girl-murdered-YARDS-home--year-father-jailed-keeping-chained-dresser.html#ixzz2DBs6oaG3

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Police question sex offenders over murder of six-year-old girl found yards from her home - a year after father was jailed for chaining her to a dresser

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2237504/Police-question-sex-offenders-death-tragic-year-old-girl-murdered-YARDS-home--year-father-jailed-keeping-chained-dresser.html#ixzz2DBpcCGnv

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Rogers Man Pleads Guilty to Chaining Child to Dresser

Updated: June 13, 2012


Behind bars: Bridgeman's father was sentenced to 18 years in prison for having chained the girl to a dresser for punishment

Rogers man accused of chaining his daughter to a dresser has pleaded guilty to three felony charges.

Accordingto the Benton County Prosecutor, 26-year-old David Bridgeman pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting the abuse of a minor.

Now he'll spend 18 years in prison. The charges stem from December 2011, when police say Bridgeman used a dog collar and a leather belt to tie up his five-year-old daughter on multiple occasions.

Bridgeman's wife, Jana, has entered a guilty plea and will be sentenced Monday.

Earlier Report (From December 2011):
A Rogers couple is behind bars after police say they received a report of a child chained to furniture in their home.

Rogers P.D. detectives arrested David Bridgeman, 26, and his wife, Jana Bridgeman, 29, on Wednesday. Police say the Bridgemans admitted to using a six inch dog-collar and a leather belt to chain David's five-year-old daughter to a dresser at least three times last week.

Officers began the investigation after being tipped off about the abuse on Wednesday. According to reports, they removed three children from a home at 515 North 10th Street.

According to police documents, David said the girl was sleepwalking, and he did it for her safety. Captain Hayes Minor of the Rogers Police Department says the five-year-old told officers the same thing, but she told interviewers at the
Child Advocacy Center in Little Flock a different story.

"There may have been instances of sleepwalking, but ultimately this was a form of punishment because she had gotten up in the middle of the night and eaten some food," Minor says.

"It's heartbreaking to see what this little girl went through," He says. "She could lie down or she could stand up. She didn't have access to a bathroom. She was forced to use the bathroom where she laid, where she was expected to sleep.

http://nwahomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=340752

Neighbor arrested in murder of 6-year-old Arkansas girl

Published November 27, 2012
Associated Press

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Bentonville police announced Monday evening that they have arrested a neighbor in the slaying of a 6-year-old girl whose body was found two days before Thanksgiving.

Jersey Bridgeman was reported missing the morning of Nov. 20, and her body was found minutes after a search began in an abandoned house two doors from her home.

Police Chief Jon Simpson said Zachary Dewayne Holly, 28, is charged with capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary and that he's being held in the Benton County Jail.

Simpson said Holly will have a bail and probable cause hearing Wednesday, during which a probable cause affidavit will be released.

"Many questions related to this investigation and arrest will be answered by the affidavit of probable cause, which will be released on Wednesday," said the chief, who didn't take questions from reporters.

Simpson said work by the State Crime Lab helped speed the arrest but he didn't say how Jersey was killed or release other details about her death or what led police to Holly.

The chief said the girl's family had been notified about the arrest. A funeral for Jersey funeral is set for 1 p.m. Tuesday at Rogers Funeral Home in Rogers.

Jersey's death came about a year after abuse allegations were leveled against her father and stepmother in nearby Rogers.

Court records show David Bridgeman told an investigator he cut a belt to fit around his daughter's ankle and chained her to the dresser because she got into medication and other things around the house. He and Jersey's stepmother, Jana Bridgeman, pleaded guilty in June to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Jana Bridgeman is serving a 12-year prison sentence, plus three years for a probation revocation. David Bridgeman is serving an 18-year prison sentence.

Police revealed little about the homicide investigation, but police Capt. Justin Thompson said earlier that there was "no reason ... for the community to be worried at this point."

Thompson said the girl died sometime the morning her body was found -- between midnight and 6:53 a.m. He would not reveal who called 911 to report her missing.

After Jersey's body was found, investigators searched the home where she lived and the house where her body was found, as well as the homes in between.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/27/neighbor-arrested-in-murder-6-year-old-arkansas-girl/#ixzz2DPWqWSpd

Neighbor charged with murder of tragic six-year-old Jersey whose body was found
yards from her home - a year after her father was jailed for abusing her

• Zachary Holly, 28, was arrested in killing of six-year-old Jersey Bridgeman
  
• Jersey was in the care of her mother DesaRae Bridgeman when she died
  
• Her body was found in a vacant house close to where she lived with her mom and mom's boyfriend
  
• Father and stepmother both serving prison sentences for child abuse
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 00:23 EST, 27 November 2012 | UPDATED: 02:52 EST, 27 November 2012

Arkansas police have arrested a neighbor in the killing of a six-year-old girl whose body was found two days before Thanksgiving.

Zachary Dewayne Holly, 28, of Bentonville, Arkansas, is being charged with capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary and is being held in the local county jail.

Little Jersey Bridgeman was reported missing the morning of November 20, and her body was found minutes after a search began in an abandoned house two doors from her home.

Jersey, whose father and stepmother were jailed last year for chaining her to a dresser, disappeared from her bedroom at her home in Bentonville on Monday night.

‘Many questions related to this investigation and arrest will be answered by the affidavit of probable cause, which will be released on Wednesday,’ said Police Chief Jon Simpson.

Simpson said work by the State Crime Lab helped speed the arrest, but he did not reveal how Jersey was killed or release other details about her death or what led police to Holly.

Simpson said Holly will have a bail and probable cause hearing Wednesday, during which a probable cause affidavit will be released. He said the girl's family had been notified about the arrest. Holly lives next door to the six-year-old victim, in between her house and the vacant house where her body was found.


Arrested for murder: Zachary Dewayne Holly with his wife Amanda Jo Holly


Newly weds: Zachary Dewayne Holly and Amanda Jo Holly were married in March, according to their Facebook pages.

Holly, 26, states on his Facebook page that he lives with his wife Amanda Jo Holly and her four-year-old son and that he graduated from Huntsville High School in Texas in 2004.

Amanda Jo Holly is Facebook friends with Jersey’s biological mother, DesaRae Bridgeman.

Bridgeman said she last saw her daughter around midnight, before reporting her missing around 6.30am. Authorities found her body approximately 10 minutes later.

After Jersey's body was found, investigators searched the home where she lived and the house where her body was found, as well as the homes in between.

The FBI was brought in to assist in the investigation.

Meanwhile, it is still unclear where DesaRae Bridgeman was at the time of the missing persons call.

Bentonville police said on Friday that certain details of the case were being withheld 'to maintain the integrity of the investigation'.


Birthday: Jersey turned six-years-old last week

After the arrest of her father and stepmother, Jersey was put under the care of her biological mother.

According to police reports, she died between midnight and 6.43 am, when police received the call that the girl had gone missing.

Police said the six-year-old had been living with a 'relative' when she went missing.

Stepmother Jana Bridgeman, also identified as Jana Slinkard in court records, is serving a 12-year prison sentence, plus three years for a probation revocation, according to online Department of Correction records.

David Bridgeman is serving an 18-year prison sentence. Prison records show he has a tattoo that says 'Jersey'.


Questions: Police have yet to release a cause of death or a list of suspects and
are still attempting to find the whereabouts of Bridgeman's mother and caretaker.

Jersey made headlines last year when her father and stepmother chained her to a dresser as part of a punishment.

In conversations with childcare specialists, the six-year-old said that she slept on the floor of her parents' room and that she was tied up for misbehaving.



Behind Bars: Bridgeman's father was sentenced to 18 years in prison for having chained the girl to a dresser as punishment

'She said that Jana and David chain her to the dresser because she had gotten up and eaten some pies, cereal, and bread,' Rogers Police Detective Larry Taylor wrote in the court affidavit.

He added that the girl 'stated that they put a belt around her waist so that she could not get up and get any food.'

The woman who first contacted the police about possible child endangerment said she saw Jersey tied up to the dresser with a silver chain, which appeared to be a dog collar.

Jersey's father David admitted in court that he did tie up his daughter with a belt but defended his actions by saying that this was to prevent her from getting into medication and other dangerous materials around the house.

'He said that he thinks she may be sleepwalking and that they discussed buying a child gate, but since he does not have a job, they could not afford to buy one at that time,' Taylor wrote in the court affidavit.

The father added that he had first cut a belt to fit around his daughter's ankle and added a lock on it after she had broken free. Then after she complained about the pain in her leg, he chained her by the waist instead.

'It should be noted that the chain that David used was approximately one to two feet in length and appeared to be a dog choke
collar,' Taylor added.

Both Bridgeman's father and stepmother pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. For their crime, the father is serving an 18-year prison sentence, while the stepmother was sentenced to 12 years.



Tragic: Jersey pictured with her biological mother DesaRae Bridgeman. It is not
clear where she was when Jersey was reported missing


Shaken: More than 100 people gathered Tuesday to hold a candlelight vigil for Bridgeman.



Remembered: The six-year-old was well loved in her community and many describing her as being special.

Jersey's death has left her community shaken.

The local school district is currently working on ways to address the death and help students cope with the loss. Administrators said they hope to have finalized plan ready by the time classes resume on Monday.

On Tuesday more than 100 people gathered at the Children's Advocacy Center to hold a candlelight vigil in honor of the girl.

Members of the event were visible distraught by the girl's death, and to many, she was well-loved.

'There was a unique quality about Jersey,' Beverly Engle, the center's executive director, said. 'A little old soul, but such a delight.'

A funeral for Jersey is set for 1 p.m. Tuesday at Rogers Funeral Home in Rogers.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2239017/Neighbor-arrested-murder-year-old-girl-YARDS-home.html#ixzz2DQXJB5Ds

Jersey Bridgeman Murder: Zachary Holly Due In Court For 6-Year-Old Girl's Death

By JEANNIE NUSS
11/28/12 03:07 AM ET EST

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- After her father and stepmother were arrested last year for chaining her to a dresser, young Jersey Bridgeman received something of a fresh start when she began kindergarten this fall in northwestern Arkansas.

Then, last week, the 6-year-old's body was found in a vacant home two doors from where she had been living with her mother.

"The fact that she went through what she went through when she was 5. ... And then this happens," Chelsea Jouett said Tuesday after dropping a teddy bear off at Jersey's home. "She had such a rough life."

Police have arrested neighbor and family friend Zachary Holly, 28, in Jersey's death. Holly is due in court Wednesday in Bentonville, a city about 215 miles northwest of Little Rock that is best known as the home of Wal-Mart's headquarters.

Holly was being held on capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary charges Tuesday night at the Benton County Jail. A judge is likely to appoint a lawyer to represent him during his court appearance Wednesday.

Holly's arrest Monday came about a week after Jersey was found dead in an empty house next to the mobile home where Holly lived. Police said a search turned up the girl's body just minutes after someone reported her missing Nov. 20.

So far, Bentonville police have not said how Jersey died or released any possible motives. Chief Jon Simpson said many questions about the investigation will be answered when a probable cause affidavit comes out Wednesday.

Simpson said Holly worked at a restaurant in town called The Flying Burrito Company. The manager, Tabitha Stevens, confirmed that Holly worked there but declined to comment further.

One neighbor, Julie Pickard, said Tuesday that Holly wept the day Jersey's body was found.

"He was crying for a long time," said Pickard, who lives on the other side of the home where Jersey's body was found.

Later that day, Pickard said, police knocked on her door and told her to let them know if she saw a man wearing Mountain Dew pajama pants.

"(Holly) was wearing Mountain Dew pajama pants," Pickard said.

No one answered the door Tuesday at the mobile home where police say Holly lived with his wife. A child's bicycle rested on a patch of grass near the home.

Simpson, the police chief, told The Associated Press the couple didn't have any children but that Holly's wife has a child who is "pretty much the same age as our victim." Simpson described Holly as "an acquaintance" and a friend of Jersey's family.

Next door, a child's bike with training wheels lay in front of the house where police said Jersey lived with her mother, DesaRae Bridgeman. Nearby was a deflated balloon decorated with the kinds of princesses that fill little girls' dreams.

Less than a mile away, Jersey's family on Tuesday buried the little girl who lived through more than her share of hardship. Police said the family requests privacy as they grieve.

Jersey's death comes after her father and stepmother chained the girl to a dresser last year. David Bridgeman told investigators he restrained his daughter to keep her from getting into medication and other things around the house in nearby Rogers.

David Bridgeman and Jersey's stepmother, Jana Bridgeman, pleaded guilty in June to false imprisonment, permitting abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. She is serving a 12-year prison sentence, plus three years for a probation revocation. He is serving an 18-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, those who knew Jersey are remembering the little girl who was still joyful despite what was, by all indications, a difficult life.

"I don't know how she dealt with it, but she dealt with it and she still smiled the whole time," family friend Mike Whitcomb said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/jersey-bridgeman-murder-zachary-holly_n_2204150.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Jersey Bridgeman Murder: Ark. girl was suffocated and apparently raped, police say

CBS/AP) BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Jersey Bridgeman, the 6-year-old victim in a child abuse case last year who was found dead last week in a vacant home in her neighborhood, was suffocated and apparently raped, Arkansas authorities said in a court document released Wednesday.

Pictures: Arkansas girl allegedly slain by neighbor

Jersey died of asphyxia or lack of oxygen, and physical evidence also showed signs of her being sexually assaulted, according to the document.

Zachary Holly, a 28-year-old neighbor accused of killing Jersey, made his first court appearance on Wednesday and listened as rape was added to his list of capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary charges.

Holly was ordered held without bond and assigned a public defender. Formal charges will be filed sometime before his next court date, scheduled for Jan. 7.

Jersey's father and her stepmother, David and Jane Bridgeman, were arrested last year for chaining the girl to a dresser in their home in the nearby town of Rogers. David Bridgeman told investigators that he restrained Jersey to keep her from getting into medication and other things in the house.

David Bridgeman is serving an 18-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in June to false imprisonment, permitting the abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. The stepmother is serving a 12-year sentence, plus three years for a probation revocation, after pleading guilty to the same charges.

Jersey's body was found last week in a vacant house adjacent to Holly's home and two doors down from where the girl lived with her mother. Investigators said they believe the girls was killed earlier that day on Nov. 20.

The night before her body was found, Jersey was at the Holly home. Zachary and his wife, Amanda Holly, would often baby-sit Jersey and her younger sister, according to the court document.

The document said Jersey's mother, DesaRae Bridgeman, told police she went next door to visit the couple after she came home from work around 11 p.m. on Nov. 19.

"Afterwards, Zachary Holly carried Jersey home to DesaRae's house, while DesaRae carried Jersey's younger sister, and they placed the two children in the same bed," Bentonville Detective Sgt. Kris Moffit wrote in the court document.

When DesaRae Bridgeman woke up the next morning, Jersey was missing from the bed where her 2-year-old sister was still sleeping, the court document said. The mother looked around the house and then asked Zachary and Amanda Holly to help her before calling 911 to report Jersey missing.

Police searched the Bridgeman and Holly homes before an officer noticed the back door of a nearby vacant house was open. Officers entered the house and found the girl's body.

During an interview with authorities that day, Zachary Holly denied any involvement with Jersey's disappearance or death, police said in the court document. They said he was cooperative and agreed to give detectives swabs of his cheek for DNA tests. He also agreed to give detectives the clothes he wore the night before Jersey's body was found.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57556143-504083/jersey-bridgeman-murder-ark-girl-was-suffocated-and-apparently-raped-police-say/

A case like this I get mixed emotions. My heart and soul cries for the lost little angel. I shed a tear when I read that she was raped. Then I am outraged that a man would do such a thing to a little girl. He should be castrated and hung by piano wire. Sorry if that's harsh but she's dead and he should not be alive. Death for a death. There should be a national death penality for the deliberate killing of a child. No plea bargin crap, just death.
William