Fayetteville, AR – In a disturbing incident at a local homeless center, 33-year-old Michael Alexander Thomas has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and possession of drug paraphernalia after fatally choking a woman in a warming tent.
According to Fayetteville police, surveillance footage contradicted Thomas’s claim of a “citizen’s arrest,” showing him lingering for hours in the tent without offering aid to the victim. The affidavit details a struggle where the victim, identified by KHBS as 37-year-old Sonia Corbin, tried to escape Thomas’s chokehold but eventually became motionless. Thomas then covered Corbin’s body with a blanket after briefly standing over her and engaging in drug use.
Thomas is currently held in the Washington County jail, awaiting further proceedings in a case that has shocked the local community and highlighted the dangers faced by individuals seeking shelter and safety.