A 63-year-old Jonesboro man accused of having sex with a 15-year-old female has died.
Jerry Donald Busch was due to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday. As Busch’s name was called, Prosecutor David Ethredge told the court he had been informed by a law enforcement agency in another county earlier in the day that Busch had been found dead.
Ethredge said from the report he had gotten, Busch died of natural causes. Busch’s attorney, Randel Miller of Jonesboro, had come to Mountain Home to stand in with his client for his appearance Thursday.
The attorney confirmed the information Ethredge had received.
Photo: Mika Seay
Mika Seay, charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, domestic battery and commission of a felony with a firearm, was found not guilty in Baxter County Circuit Court Wednesday.
The case was unusual in that the victim, 33-year-old Stephen Loosey, claims he was shot accidentally through his own negligence, while the state charged the 37-year-old Seay, the victim’s ex-wife, with intentionally pulling the trigger.
Circuit Judge John Putman presided over the non-jury trial. After both sides rested Wednesday, Judge Putman wasted little time in ruling on the case.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Kerry Chism said the court would basically hear two versions of the events leading to the shooting on May 23 last year one from Seay and Loosey and one from two eyewitnesses who were at the scene.