NEA Report says, quoting sources, that former Republican state Sen. Linda Collins-Smith of Pocahontas has been found shot to death in her home.
A State Police spokesman will not confirm this report. He says that the State Police is investigating a death at a home near Pocahontas and that identification of the body has not been completed. The body had decomposed, which added to difficulties in identification. NEA Report has posted a photo of a coroner’s vehicle at Collins-Smith’s home. The State Police would not comment on the NEA Report that the death appeared not to be a suicide.
Ken Yang, who once campaigned for Collins-Smith, told KATV that neighbors had heard gunshots a day or two before Collins-Smith was discovered today. Her body was reportedly found wrapped in some sort of blanket.
Collins-Smith, a former Democrat, was defeated for re-election in 2018. She was divorced from retired Circuit Judge Philip Smith in October 2018.
The Spring River Chronicle Facebook page also is reporting the death:
Law-enforcement in Randolph County has confirmed that former Senator Linda Collins-Smith was found dead in her home In Pocahontas around 7:15 PM of an apparent gunshot wound. Currently there are several Randolph County deputies, the coroner and Arkansas Game and Fish officers on site with their dogs according to a witness at the scene.
Collins-Smith was an avid supporter of guns. She introduced several pieces of legislation to expand where concealed weapons could be carried, including on college campuses and in courtrooms. As she told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette during her re-election campaign: “You can’t be pro-gun enough in Arkansas.”
