Conway Walmart Worker Fatally Stabbed; Attacker Claims She Was a Demon

Jordanne Drinkwater was working a late shift at the Walmart Supercenter on Skyline Drive in Conway when Zeddrick Ross walked in already armed. By the time officers arrived at 10:58 p.m. Tuesday, the 32-year-old associate was dying of stab wounds and Ross, 37, was still holding the knife.

According to a Conway police detective's affidavit, Ross told investigators he had been hunting a demon he believed had been following him. He described the demon as a light-skinned Black woman with brown eyes and a weave, someone he had only ever seen at a distance. Ross had stolen a large knife from a nearby Walgreens before entering the store and came to Walmart intending to take a machete for additional protection. After stabbing Drinkwater several times in the neck and shoulder, court records show, Ross looked down at her on the ground and realized she bore no resemblance to the figure he feared. "As a result of Zeddrick trying to kill this demon, he actually killed Drinkwater," the detective's affidavit states.

Officers reached the scene within approximately one minute of dispatch and found Ross still armed. He refused repeated commands to drop the weapon and advanced on an officer. One officer fired a single shot, which missed; a second deployed a Taser. Ross was taken into custody without further harm to anyone else inside the store. The officer who fired the shot was placed on administrative leave per standard department procedure.

Detectives confirmed Ross had no prior relationship with Drinkwater and was not a Walmart employee. His listed address is a Conway homeless shelter. He now faces a first-degree murder charge and is held at the Faulkner County Detention Center on a $1 million bond.

Drinkwater died at the scene despite efforts by responding officers and first responders. Friends knew her by the nickname Puff. Sam Slaughter, who had known Drinkwater for nearly a decade, described learning of her death the morning after the attack. "I called him and I said, 'You're kidding. It's not, not Jordan, not Puff, right? And the world stopped," Slaughter said. "I never met somebody as pure as Jordan. She helped change my entire life for the better, everything from staying sober to the way I think about the world. She was an amazing human being."

Conway Police spokesperson Daniel Hogan said the department's thoughts and prayers "go with Jordanne, and go with her family and friends and the Walmart staff." Walmart said it is "heartbroken by what happened" at its Conway store and is "focused on taking care of our associates and supporting law enforcement with their investigation."

Conway police have asked anyone who witnessed the attack or the events leading up to it Tuesday night to contact the department as the investigation continues.