Arrest in TV anchor’s death
The phones began ringing at police headquarters soon after local television stations broadcast a picture of a man accused of killing a popular TV anchorwoman. Within an hour and a half, he was in custody.
Curtis Lavelle Vance, 28, of Marianna, was being held at the Pulaski County Jail, awaiting arraignment Friday morning on a capital murder charge in the beating death of Anne Pressly. The 26-year-old anchorwoman died Oct. 25, five days after being severely beaten in what police described as a random attack at her home.
Vance was arrested Wednesday night at a home in central Little Rock after police held a news conference to name him as the suspect in Pressly’s death.
"We received several phone calls ... but this one turned out to be correct" about where Vance could be found, Police Chief Stuart Thomas said Thursday.
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Police did not disclose what led them to suspect Vance.
Hastings had said previously that DNA and other evidence from the scene gave police a portrait of the person they were looking for, though they did not have a name until this month. One of Pressly’s credit cards was used at a gas station after the beating, but Hastings said security camera footage didn’t provide a good look at the person using it.
