Former Arkansas State Senator’s Friend Charged For Her Murder

Police charged a former Arkansas State Senator’s friend and campaign staffer for her murder Monday.

Rebecca O’Donnell, 48, was charged for murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence in the killing of  Linda Collins-Smith, 57, NBC News reported Tuesday.

Collins-Smith was found dead in her home June 4 after suffering a lethal gunshot wound.

Former press secretary for Collins-Smith Ken Yang said O’Donnell previously worked with the state senator in 2018, according to NBC.

O’Donnell is currently in custody, according to the Arkansas State Police.

Yang told The Daily Caller News Foundation over email Tuesday that he could not “speculate” to the “crimes Ms. O’Donnell is being charged with.”

All records related to the investigation were ordered to be sealed until the Circuit Court of Randolph County, Arkansas, “should declare that the record may be open,” a court order given to TheDCNF by Arkansas State Police public information officer Bill Sadler said.

Collins-Smith served in the state House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, switching from a Democrat to a Republican months after becoming elected. She was later elected to the state Senate in 2014 for District 19, the Daily Beast reported. She lost reelection in 2018.