Michael Alexander Thomas murdered Sonia Corbin at the 7hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Feb. 17, 2024, police said. (Mug shot: Washington County Sheriff’s Office; screenshot of the facility: KHBS)
A man who fatally choked a woman in a homeless center warming tent tried to explain it away as a “citizen’s arrest,” but surveillance footage showed he lingered there for hours and did nothing to help her, according to cops in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Michael Alexander Thomas, 33, is in the Washington County jail for murder in the second degree and possession of drug paraphernalia, records show.
“The female attempted to escape Michael’s rear chokehold, but Michael held the female on the ground,” the affidavit stated. “The female violently kicked her feet but slowly stopped kicking as her body became motionless. Approximately 5 minutes later, Michael stood up and briefly stood over the female’s body. Michael grabbed a nearby brown jacket and removed a smoking pipe from the jacket. After smoking from the pipe, Michael stood over the female’s body, put his hands together, and bowed. Approximately 4 minutes later, Michael grabbed a nearby blanket and covered the female.”
The arrest affidavit did not reveal the woman’s name, but a report from Fort Smith ABC affiliate KHBS identified her as Sonia Corbin, 37.
According to the arrest affidavit, Fayetteville police were dispatched Saturday at approximately 8:10 p.m. to the 7hills Homeless Center on South School Avenue.
There was a 911 call that a woman was unresponsive inside the warming tent on the east side of the building.
Medical personnel arrived and found her with no pulse. She wasn’t breathing.
They tried CPR but later pronounced her dead.
When officers checked the surveillance camera inside the warming tent, they saw a man, identified by a facility manager as Thomas, arguing with the woman, authorities wrote.
One detective “also identified Michael from previous police incidents,” cops wrote.
When the argument in the tent “quickly intensified,” the woman tried to push past Thomas to leave, but the defendant wrapped his arm around her neck from behind into “a rear chokehold,” officers said.
He allegedly appeared to pull her to the ground. That is when he continued to hold her even as she slowly stopped kicking and moving.
“Michael continued to linger in the tent for approximately 3 hours with the female motionless on the ground,” police said.
He allegedly left after a person, who was a stranger to police, walked into the tent and found the woman dead under the blanket.
When police found Thomas as a campsite just north of Town Branch Trail Mile Marker 60, they found a glass pipe with residue in his pocket, according to documents. It tested positive for meth, they claim.
After getting his Miranda warning, Thomas admitted he was alone with the victim in the tent before her death, authorities wrote.
“Michael stated the female was acting erratic, so he placed her in a ‘rear naked chokehold’ to ‘citizen’s arrest’ her,” police said. “Michael admitted he applied enough pressure around the female’s neck for her to lose consciousness.”
Saying he lacked a cellphone, he claimed that he was unable to call 911 after he realized she lacked a pulse and was not breathing, cops wrote.
“Michael didn’t attempt to revive the female or exit the warming tent to flag someone down for help,” they wrote.
“The staff and Board of 7hills are saddened by the events that took place on Saturday, February 17th,” the facility wrote on Monday. “Our Day Center serves as a resource for our unsheltered friends and families. The loss of life is a shock to us AND the sheltered community. Let this moment propel us towards solutions around addiction, mental illness and homelessness.”
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