Mountain Home man awaiting murder trial in Baxter County now facing rape charge in Benton County

Skylar Brazil (Photo courtesy of Benton County Sheriff’s Office)

A Mountain Home man who is awaiting his murder trial this summer in Baxter County has been arrested in Benton County on a rape charge of a minor under the age of 14 for a crime that allegedly happened about six months prior to the alleged murder. Forty-two-year old Skylar Whitney Brazil was arrested Monday and is being held in the Benton County Jail on a $1 million bond with a hold placed on him by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the probable cause affidavit from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened at the victim’s home in Siloam Springs after Brazil had driven there from Mountain Home.

The victim told investigators Brazil had also sent nude pictures to her through Snapchat.

MURDER CHARGE

Brazil, Ryan James Lindsey of Mountain Home, Allison June Cunningham of Lakeview and Ashley Nicole Hendricks of Fayetteville are accused of murdering Cody Stradford of Mountain Home in December of 2020. Brazil is scheduled to stand trial July 14.

According to information released by 14th Judicial District Prosecutor David Ethredge in 2021, Lindsey and Brazil are reported to have beaten Stradford for up to an hour while he “begged for it to stop.”

Investigators report Lindsey and Cunningham allegedly admitted to acquaintances they both shot Stradford at some point during the episode.

While the beating was in progress and Stradford was crying out for help, Cunningham and Hendricks were alleged to have stood by “looking on.”

Stradford’s body was placed in his own vehicle, driven to a wooded area and set afire.

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