Little Rock, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Oct. 9, 2024 – The Arkansas Court of Appeals has upheld a Lawrence County Circuit Judge’s ruling that the sealed files that were part of the investigation into the murder of Jackson County native Sydney Sutherland can be released to a production company that produces television specials for the A&E Network.
Quake Lewellyn, 29, Jonesboro, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to capital murder and rape. A judge sentenced Lewellyn to life in prison without parole. Lewellyn was arrested after Sydney Sutherland, a 25-year-old nurse, disappeared Aug. 19, 2021, while she was jogging in the Newport area. She had worked out at a Jonesboro gym earlier that day before returning home to go for her run. Days later, Lewellyn admitted to killing her. The state medical examiner found that Sutherland’s death was caused by multiple blunt-force injuries.
Attorneys for Quake Lewellyn had appealed the lower court’s ruling granting Category 6, the production company, access to the files saying, “Category 6 did not prove a legal or justifiable reason that it is entitled to the documents requested.” The appellate judge, Rob Ratton, wrote that Lewellyn’s appeal is “moot” and is, therefore, dismissed.
Category 6 requested the investigative file through the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in October 2022. The Lawrence County Circuit Court initially denied the request. In December, Category 6 filed a motion to intervene. Eventually, the circuit court reversed its decision and granted access to certain photographs taken during the investigation, audio/video recordings of Lewellyn’s and others’ police interviews, GPS data, surveillance and Ring camera footage, the autopsy report, social media data, and cell phone data.
Some of the murder story has already been told in an episode of A&E’s “Witness to Murder: Digital Evidence” that originally aired Aug. 4, 2023. It was unclear whether the newly released files would be used in a follow-up episode.
