The admitted shooter received 160 years, while a second defendant was sentenced to 20 years for hindering authorities and tampering with evidence.
VAN BUREN, Ark. — Two men who were initially accused together after a double killing in rural Crawford County are now headed to prison under plea agreements that draw a clear legal line between their roles.
Billy Joe Nelson, 45, received 160 years after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Jay Collins, 66, and Donny Shipp, 70. Eddie Sterling, 54, received 20 years after pleading guilty to hindering apprehension and tampering with physical evidence. The outcomes ended cases that began with both men under arrest on capital murder allegations, but prosecutors ultimately secured a murder conviction only against Nelson.
The contrast is rooted in the evidence investigators said they gathered after the June 24, 2025, shootings near Chester. Nelson was identified as the person who entered Collins’ home and fired several times. Sterling told detectives that he stayed in a vehicle outside, heard more than five shots and drove away after Nelson returned. Authorities also said Sterling acknowledged retrieving the gun before the trip and later took actions that led to his evidence-tampering and hindering convictions.
Nelson entered his plea on May 13, according to court records described by Arkansas news outlets. He admitted killing both men and also pleaded in connection with being a habitual offender. The court imposed an 80-year sentence for each first-degree murder count. Rather than allowing the terms to run together, the judge ordered them served consecutively. That decision produced the 160-year total and assigned a separate punishment to each victim’s death.
Sterling’s resolution came later. He did not plead guilty to killing Collins or Shipp, and the final charges did not require the court to find that he intended their deaths. His 20-year punishment instead addressed efforts to interfere with authorities and physical evidence after the shootings. That distinction is important because early statements from investigators had characterized his alleged help in obtaining the gun as making him a significant participant, even though they said he was not the shooter.
The case began late on a Tuesday night when deputies were called to Collins’ home on Lands End Road, in a wooded area near the small community of Chester. They found Collins and Shipp suffering from gunshot wounds inside the residence. Collins died at the scene. Shipp was transported by helicopter to a hospital but later died from his injuries. Authorities said from the beginning that the attack did not appear random.
Investigators soon developed a sequence involving two visits to the home. Sheriff Daniel Perry said Nelson and Sterling had gone there earlier that day and left after a disagreement involving money. Perry said detectives learned of a debt between the families and a warning that there would be consequences if it was not handled. At the time of the arrests, the sheriff also said money and possibly drugs were being considered as parts of the dispute. Later reports about the pleas consistently described a family debt, but did not establish any drug-related claim as a proven fact.
The return visit ended differently. According to the sheriff’s public account, another exchange of words occurred before Nelson drew or used a gun and began firing. The available reports do not describe a prolonged fight or identify any additional shooter. Perry said Nelson fired multiple rounds, killing both men. Investigators later went back to the area to search for the firearm, while confirming that they were not looking for any other suspects.
Sterling’s interview with detectives provided much of the publicly reported detail about events outside the house. He said he and Nelson had traveled to the Chester area in connection with obtaining a vehicle transmission. He also said the men wanted to work out a deal that would protect Sterling and his family. Although Sterling claimed he did not know Nelson planned to harm anyone, he acknowledged positioning the vehicle so they could leave quickly if trouble occurred.
That positioning took on greater significance once the shooting began. Sterling said he remained outside as Nelson entered the residence. After hearing a series of shots, he heard Nelson call for him to go. Nelson got into the vehicle, and the men fled, according to the affidavit described in news reports. Authorities located both men the next day at a residence in Uniontown and took them to the Crawford County Justice Center.
At first, Nelson and Sterling were booked on two capital murder accusations apiece and held without bond. Capital murder was the starting point of the prosecution, not the final judgment. Criminal charges can change as investigators gather evidence, prosecutors assess what they can prove and defendants negotiate pleas. In this case, the final convictions reflected different levels and forms of responsibility: two intentional homicide convictions for Nelson and two post-crime or evidence-related convictions for Sterling.
The plea agreements also meant the case would not be tested in a public trial. A trial could have required prosecutors to introduce forensic evidence, witness testimony, interview recordings and a detailed account of the alleged debt. Defense lawyers could have challenged the state’s reconstruction and questioned whether each defendant had the mental state required for the original charges. By pleading guilty, Nelson and Sterling accepted convictions and sentences without forcing the state to present that full case to a jury.
As a result, some central facts remain limited to the accounts released during the investigation. The reports do not state the value of the debt, identify the precise transaction behind it or explain why Collins and Shipp were both present when Nelson returned. They also do not disclose whether any money changed hands during the first visit or whether another person tried to settle the disagreement before the second trip. Those gaps do not change the guilty pleas, but they leave parts of the conflict unexplained.
Nelson’s habitual-offender plea added another legal factor to his punishment. Arkansas uses habitual-offender provisions to increase sentencing exposure for defendants with qualifying prior felony records. Coverage of this case did not provide the list of earlier convictions underlying Nelson’s designation. The public record reported by the news organizations instead focused on the result: two 80-year terms, served back to back, for the murders of Collins and Shipp.
Sterling’s case presents a different question of accountability. Investigators said he did not enter the home or fire the shots, yet they alleged that he obtained the weapon, waited in a vehicle prepared for a quick departure and drove Nelson away. His guilty pleas did not convert those allegations into murder convictions. They did, however, formalize his responsibility for obstructive conduct connected to the investigation and for tampering with evidence.
The combined sentences total 180 years, but that figure can obscure the individualized judgments made in court. Nelson’s 160 years punish two admitted killings. Sterling’s 20 years punish separate crimes related to helping avoid capture and interfering with evidence. The defendants were arrested together, yet their final judgments do not treat them as equally culpable for the deaths.
No jury verdict was needed to establish Nelson’s responsibility because he admitted both murders. The pleas also ended the prospect of a capital murder trial arising from the same facts. Public reports did not identify any remaining defendant or continuing search for another participant. The sheriff had said shortly after the arrests that investigators believed they had located everyone involved.
Nelson and Sterling are now committed to the Arkansas prison system under their respective sentences. The court resolutions close the main criminal proceedings over the deaths of Collins and Shipp, while the precise details of the financial conflict that preceded the shooting remain only partly explained in the public record.
Author note: Last updated July 13, 2026.