A 75-year-old man is facing a murder charge after cops found a dead body inside a home in south Arkansas.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office said the home is near Highway 19 South and Highway 98. That spot is in the Walkerville part of Columbia County, Arkansas. The county sits in the far south part of the state. It shares a real border with Louisiana, not just a nearby line. Shreveport, Louisiana, is about an hour and a half away by car.
Sheriff Leroy Martin said a medical transport service dropped a man off at that home on Sunday, September 13, 2026. The man had come from a hospital in El Dorado, Arkansas. He got out of the transport van and walked up to the house. Then he turned around and got back in. He told the driver he did not want to go inside, because he knew there was a body in there.
The driver called for help. Cops went to the house. Inside a bedroom, they found the body of a man. It was Brian Joseph Wright, 58. Wright was from Florida. He had an address in Emerson, Arkansas. But the sheriff's office said he had been staying at the Walkerville home.
Cops worked the scene and gathered proof. They arrested Eddie L. Grainger, 75, of Emerson. He was the man the transport van had dropped off. Jail records show Grainger was booked into the county jail at 6:07 p.m. that Sunday.
The sheriff's office charged Grainger with two crimes. The first is second-degree murder. The second is abuse of a corpse.
Sheriff Martin talked to reporters the next morning. He said Wright and Grainger were close. "They were buddies, like brothers," Martin said. He also said Grainger is not talking right now. Grainger has asked for a lawyer.
Martin said the body showed heavy decay. Because of that, nobody could tell right away how Wright died. Martin said he thinks the body may have been in the house for a week or more. Wright's body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab. Experts there will try to find the cause of death.
Second-degree murder is a big felony in Arkansas. The charge can bring 6 to 30 years in prison. This charge is not first-degree murder. First-degree murder is for a killing that was planned ahead of time. Second-degree murder does not need planning. It covers a killing where a person meant to hurt someone badly, and that harm killed them. It can also cover a case where a person did something so reckless it put a life at risk.
Abuse of a corpse is also a crime. It covers things a person is not allowed to do to a dead body, like hiding it or not telling police about a death. That charge can bring 3 to 10 years in prison. The sheriff said not reporting the body is part of why that charge was filed.
Grainger is still locked up at the county jail. He is waiting for his first time in court. That is when a judge reads him the charges and sets bond. No trial date has been set yet.
Columbia County has about 22,800 people, based on the last U.S. Census count. Magnolia is the county seat. Emerson and Walkerville are both small places south of Magnolia, close to the Louisiana line. Emerson has fewer than 300 people, per that same census count. Walkerville is even smaller. It sits where Highway 98 ends at Highway 19, more of a crossroads than a town.
Cops have not said exactly how Wright died. The sheriff's office said next of kin have been told about his death.
Once Grainger has his first court date, a judge will set bond and tell him what comes next. The case will then move through county court.
This is a fast-moving case out of a small town near the Louisiana border. El Tejano will update this story if the sheriff's office shares more details.
Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.
