State Denies Appeal on Murder Conviction

RISON - The Arkansas Court of Appeals has denied an appeal by Emily Kate-Marie Brown, convicted last year by a Cleveland County jury of first degree murder in the August 2022 shooting death of her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Miller.Brown’s appeal was based on court proceedings concerning her claims of self defense as well as the court allowing some interview information to be used in the trial. She was found guilty by a Cleveland County jury in June 2024, and sentenced to 35 years in prison.Brown was arrested by the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday evening, Aug. 6, 2022, after receiving a phone call about an individual being shot outside a residence at 500 Brown Road, about seven miles south of Rison in the Macedonia community. When law enforcement arrived, deputies found Miller, 38, of Greenwood, Ark., dead in the yard with multiple gunshot wounds. An autopsy conducted by the Arkansas State Crime Lab revealed he had been shot six times. According to the police report, Brown had called Miller to meet her at her father’s residence under the pretense of allowing him to spend some time with the son they had together. Brown was 32 years old at the time of her arrest and was listed as a resident of Broken Arrow, Okla. Brown told police that she had a protection order issued against Miller in Oklahoma because he was stalking her with her new boyfriend but was unable to get the order served. She indicated she had contacted Miller on her phone through a messenger app and told him if he came to Rison he could keep their son a few days. She told investigators that she had no intention of Miller getting their son. She told the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department that was her intentions to get Miller there so the sheriff’s department could serve the protection order.Miller was driven to the residence from Alabama by his stepfather, Ferlon Newsom. Testimony during last year’s tri...