Texarkana woman held on $750,000 bond on murder charge in stabbing death at Ozan Gardens apartments

A 38-year-old Texarkana, Ark., woman is being held on a $750,000 bond on a first-degree murder charge after a man was found dead outside the Ozan Gardens apartments on Washington Street early Sunday, court records show.

Kimberly Rankins was arrested Oct. 4 by the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department in the death of Telem Fairchild, 29, according to the record of her first court appearance in Miller County Circuit Court.

Officers were called about 5:38 a.m. Sunday to the apartment complex at 3302 Washington St., formerly known as Smith Keys Apartments, where a man was lying face down on the ground, police said. He appeared to have been dead for several hours and had minor injuries to his face. A stab wound to his torso was discovered after the Miller County coroner’s office arrived.

Detectives determined that Rankins and Fairchild had been in a physical fight at the same address around 11 p.m. Saturday, police said. Rankins lives at the complex.

Fairchild’s body was sent to the state crime lab in Little Rock for an autopsy.

Rankins appeared before a judge Oct. 5 and was appointed a public defender, the court record shows. The judge set her bond at $750,000, the amount prosecutors recommended. She is due back in court at 9 a.m. Oct. 20.

As of Wednesday, no bond had been posted and she remained in the Miller County jail. Prosecutors had not yet filed a formal charging document in the case. First-degree murder is a Class Y felony in Arkansas, punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison.

Arkansas court records show no prior criminal cases for Rankins.

Police asked anyone with information about the death to contact Detective Sgt. Dakota Easley at 903-798-3154.