Stories from Thursday, July 7, 2022

On Thursday, July 7, at approximately 6:35 a.m. officers of the Osceola Police Department responded to the Day’s Inn and Suites in Osceola in reference to gun shots in the area. When officers arrived they discovered Thomas Porter, 62, had suffered from a gunshot wound to the chest. Lifesaving measures were attempted by officers and ambulance staff but failed and Porter succumbed to his injuries. Porter’s wife, Karen Denton, 30, was subsequently charged murder first degree in the death of Porter...

Jesse Earl Tyes, affectionately known to us as “Earl” and “Big Eye,” was born May 17, 1964, to Frank Tyes and Theodoria Sturghill in Blytheville. Earl was the baby of 14 children. Earl was proceeded in death by his parents, Frank Tyes and Theodoria Wilkerson; grandparents, Essie Mae Howard, Ben Sturghill and Major Howard, Sr.; siblings, Denise Toni, Gertrude Smith, Henry Wilkerson, Jr., Leroy Donnell Sturghill, Ethel Lee Norris; and godmother, Mrs. Alberta Tate...

Kenneth Lee Laster, 77, of Lepanto, passed away July 5, 2022, at Flo & Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro. He was a farm worker and of the Baptist faith. Mr. Laster was born Oct. 19, 1944, in Marked Tree to James Franklin and Mary Laster. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Scharlote Marshall; one son, Kenneth Laster, Jr.; one daughter, Connie Laster; and one sister, Pat Bishop...

Floyd Allan Tillman, 58, of Beaumont, Texas, passed away July 5, 2022, at Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. He was a fence builder for 40 years. Mr. Tillman was born Nov. 3, 1963 in Chicago, Ill., to Wilze Harrison and Emma Jean Inman Tillman. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Terry Wilze Tillman and Stephen Roy Tillman; and two sisters, Mary Jane Tillman and Rita Faye Wood...