Elaine lifts emergency curfew after violence eases

Elaine lifted its temporary emergency curfew after city leaders decided the conditions that triggered it had improved enough to restore normal hours. The order, which had been set to run daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. through July 18, was repealed early after three violent incidents in an 11-hour span, including a shooting.

The decision marked a quick turn from emergency restrictions back toward ordinary life in the Phillips County town. When the curfew was imposed, residents, businesses and police were operating under a tighter nighttime rule that signaled serious concern about public safety. By repealing it, the Elaine City Council concluded the immediate danger had eased, but the move also underscored how fast violence can disrupt evening movement, commerce and neighborhood routines in a small town where every call and patrol matters.

The curfew came against the backdrop of a case that has kept attention on violence in Elaine for years. In April 2023, Parneisha Slater, who was 30 and about 25 weeks pregnant, and Sandy Williams, 38, were shot several times through the window of their apartment on Oak Street in Elaine. Slater’s unborn child, Paisley, did not survive. The Phillips County Sheriff’s Office requested help from the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division in that case.

That case reached a major turning point on March 2, 2026, when Treyton Russell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree battery. Russell received concurrent 15-year sentences, which the Arkansas Department of Corrections lists as a total sentence of 30 years. The curfew’s repeal does not erase those events, but it does show city officials judging that the emergency phase has passed for now, even as Elaine and Phillips County remain shaped by the violence that prompted the crackdown.