HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Both suspects in a Hot Springs kidnapping and Amber Alert formally pleaded not guilty while appearing in court after a girl was kidnapped after leaving work in April.
Samuel Bolling Jr., 38, remains in the Garland County Jail, facing five charges that together carry a $1 million bond.
The case is sealed and Bolling's public defender raised no objections to the gag order when presented by Circuit Judge Marcia Hearnsberger.
19-year-old Dayla Ferrer also pleaded not guilty on May 2.
Police arrested Bolling and Ferrer on April 19. They are accused of abducting a Hot Springs teen as she left work on Central Avenue the previous night.
The girl, however, is back home and safe.
Bolling claimed to have no permanent address and couldn't answer the judge's inquiries about how he supported himself.
She went on to declare him indigent and said public defender Mark Fraiser would represent him going forward.
Among the five charges, Bolling faces three felonies, rape, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping. Each charge could carry 40-years to life sentences if convicted. He is also charged with first-degree battery and false imprisonment.
A woman who identified herself to court officers as Bolling's mother sat in the gallery of the detention center courtroom but she declined to speak to reporters after the hearing.
Bolling is due back in court on June 28th.
During Ferrer's first court appearance since her arrest, her attorney Michael Kaiser pointed out the gag order that is currently in place and that he "can't get into the details or the facts or the allegations."
Ferrer was visibly upset inside the courtroom, crying and kept mouthing the words “I love you” to her family members before a deputy told them to stop talking to her.
She was charged with rape, aggregated robbery, kidnapping, and first-degree battery, and false imprisonment.
"There will come a time where we do get to have the truth come out whether that’s in this courtroom [or] in front of a jury, and we look forward to that day,” Kaiser said.
We will update this article with more information as it becomes available throughout the day.