Two charged in slaying of 5 people in Ark.

Published: Nov. 20, 2009 at 9:58 PM

HOT SPRINGS, Ark., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Two 23-year-old men have been charged with fatally shooting five people in Arkansas last week, police said Friday.

A third suspect was fatally shot during a gunfight Thursday night that injured a police officer.

Lt. James Martin of the Garland County Sheriff's Department identified the suspects in the Pearcy killings as Jeremy Pickney and Samuel Conway, CNN reported. They are charged with capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and arson, and were being held without bond.

All five slaying victims had been shot Nov. 12 in Pearcy, about 55 miles southwest of Little Rock, police said. Four bodies were found Nov. 12 in a burning home, a fifth in a home on the same property that was not set afire.

Authorities were trying to identify the four bodies that were in the burning home. The fifth victim has been identified as Edward Earl Gentry Sr., 80.

The third suspect in the slayings, Marvin Stringer, 22, died in the shootout when police tried to arrest him at an inn. Deputy Jason Lawrence, who was shot in the exchange of gunfire, remained in serious but stable condition, police said.

Martin said some property was taken from the home that was set ablaze, but did not elaborate. A car registered to the home's owners was found 15-20 miles away. It had also been set on fire.

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