Felon charged in murder of former Cape resident had been recently sentenced to prison

DES ARC, Ark. -- The man accused of the stabbing death of a former Cape Girardeau resident earlier this month was a felon who days before had been sentenced to 10 years for unrelated assault and gun charges. That fact has the victim's family members searching for answers and suggesting that blame extends beyond the one prosecutors say held the knife.

Donovan Buck, 29, was killed in a driveway in the overnight hours of Sept. 1 in the small town of Des Arc, about 200 miles from Cape Girardeau and 40 miles from Little Rock. Buck lived in Cape Girardeau and worked at Procter & Gamble for about a year until 2009 when he returned to his hometown. He recently had relocated to Hot Springs, Ark.

Buck's family, which includes several locally, including his stepmother, say they have been told little about the circumstances surrounding his death, except that he was stabbed while on a weekend visit to Des Arc and that he was with two men in what could have been an argument or a robbery.

Whatever the reason, "it was senseless," said Mona Buck of Cape Girardeau, who became Donovan's stepmother when she married his father 20 years ago. "There was no reason for it. Donovan had no enemies, he really didn't."

The family was already grief-struck over the loss of the one they described as affable and good-natured, if a bit wayward as he went from job to job without settling on a wife or having children -- facts they said made his death all the more tragic. Then, just days after Donovan's death, police detectives identified Frederick Owens, one of the men Buck was with that night, as a "person of interest" in their investigation. It came to light that Owens was a felon who on Aug. 20 -- 11 days before Buck's death -- had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated assault and gun charges.

Owens, who also has been convicted of several previous violent offenses, had been released by the Prairie County Sheriff's Department because of overcrowding at the 22-bed jail. According to Mona Buck and published reports, Owens was told to go home until the Arkansas Department of Corrections could take him. That left Owens a free man on the night he came into contact with Donovan Buck.

Owens has since been charged with first-degree murder and has his first court appearance scheduled for today.

"It never should have happened," she said from her home on South West End Boulevard. "It wouldn't have happened anywhere else. There are so many questions we haven't got answers to yet and a big one is why was this guy walking around when a judge said he was supposed to be in prison?"

Attempts by the Southeast Missourian to reach Prairie County Sheriff Gary Burnett were not successful Sunday. But, in comments he made to the media in Arkansas, Burnett blamed Owens' release on a communication breakdown and a lack of protocol. Now, the Arkansas State Police are leading the investigation.

"Definitely everybody has learned something from this," Burnett told Little Rock's THV-11. "I've been sheriff since '07, and we've let several out waiting on a bed at ADC due to lack of room."

It wouldn't happen here, according to local sheriffs. Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said he wouldn't release an inmate headed to prison for that very reason, especially if they had violent priors. When the Scott County Jail's 120-bed facility becomes crowded, he can send those with lesser offenses to the Scott City, Chaffee or Miner municipal jails to hold his overflow.

Sometimes a judge will allow a defendant sentenced to prison to have a brief furlough to finalize affairs before going in, he said.

"But as the sheriff I wouldn't let somebody out if they were sentenced to DOC," Walter said. "I don't know anybody who would release a DOC inmate because of the lack of a bed."

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan agreed. In Missouri, sheriffs operate by court order. If the judge's court order says the defendant stays confined, that's what happens.

"Frankly, I don't think we have the authority to arbitrarily let someone loose," Jordan said.

Donovan Buck's family say they would like to see Arkansas law changed so that violent inmates aren't set free under any circumstances until their sentences are served.

Jeffery Buck, Donovan's father, also lived in Cape Girardeau with his son before they returned to Des Arc. From his Arkansas home, the 58-year-old said he is struggling to make sense of what has taken place in the last month.

"I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why this guy was out," he said. "There is some bitterness there about the way this whole thing was handled. I want to know what happened, who all was involved and for all to have a full measure."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, MO

Des Arc, Ark.