Accused Woman Claims Self-Defense in Statement
PARAGOULD, Ark. — A father calling for police action after he said his 16-year-old daughter was attacked by an adult while trick-or-treating Friday night in Paragould got his wish on Monday after the woman was arrested.
Trish Eubanks, 41, of Paragould, was arrested Monday for felony second-degree battery, third-degree battery, and felony first-degree terroristic threatening, according to the Paragould Police Department.
Update: Bail was initially set at $50,000 cash-only by Judge Dan Stidham. However, one day later, a circuit judge signed off on a bail reduction request, making it $50,000 cash or surety. Eubanks bonded out through a bail bond company, paying 10%, plus $80 in fees, an informed source that wished to remain anonymous said.
NEA Report is working to confirm which circuit judge approved the request. Records were not online, and several informed sources were unaware.
Eubanks is the developmental director for Mission Outreach NEA, according to their website.
Original story:
The incident in question was first brought to the public’s attention in a viral Facebook post that has approximately 2,000 shares as of this publication. That post contains one witness’s version, which alleges that an adult female assaulted a minor and left her face covered in blood with 30 to 40 children present, many screaming and crying.
Father’s version
Justin Noblin is the father of the child who was involved, a 16-year-old girl named Josie. He spoke with NEA Report on Friday night after the incident. In summary, he described an argument with Chris and Trish Eubanks escalated to threats and a physical attack by Trish against his daughter and him. Noblin says Trish began attacking Josie first.
According to Noblin, he, Josie, and others were going door to door as they participated in Halloween festivities. While walking, he said he was approached by Chris Eubanks. The two knew each other and had a previous dispute about hunting land. Noblin and Chris began arguing, with Noblin admitting that he antagonized both Chris and Trish by claiming he had killed a buck on their property, which he also says was false. Noblin says that’s when Trish threatened that they would be shot if they returned to the land.
Both sides continued arguing until Noblin said Josie got in Trish’s face. They were separated, but a short time later, things turned physical, with Noblin alleging that Trish attacked Josie with punches to the face, resulting in hospitalization.
NEA Report reviewed the medical paperwork provided by Noblin, which said that a doctor diagnosed fractured cheekbones and a fractured nose. The report describes the injury as from a physical assault. Noblin said the doctors at the ER said she may need reconstructive surgery on her nose, and they may need to rebreak it after the swelling goes down.
“Josie is doing as well as possible with 3 broken facial bones,” Noblin said in a message. “Still her happy-go-lucky self, but at the same time she cries every time she looks in a mirror. #JusticeForJosie”
Noblin stated police were called. He was initially told that he would need to complete a criminal affidavit with the city attorney to pursue misdemeanor charges. He was later contacted by a detective, but no arrests have been made as of this report.
The accused responds
After the viral Facebook post identified Trish by name, NEA Report reached out to her to request a comment. Trish did not respond, but her husband sent the following message to our reporter:
“Stan, this is Chris Eubanks, Trish’s husband. Thank you for reaching out. It’s unfortunate that some people listen to one side of a story and accept it without hearing all the facts. We rest in knowing the truth, which is that we acted honorably, reasonably, and responsibly under the circumstances.
I was with my wife on Halloween as we chaperoned our kids, who were trick-or-treating when we had a regrettable encounter. A young woman was spewing foul language in front of the children and, when my wife asked her to watch her language, the young woman, who wore face paint and stood tall enough to appear to be an adult, struck my wife in the face. My wife defended herself as any reasonable person could be expected to do. We are hard-working, law-abiding, peace-loving people, and although my wife was assaulted first, our greatest hope is to put this matter behind us.”
Police
The Paragould Police Department confirmed on Monday morning, Nov. 3, that they were investigating the incident. Capt. Jason Elms told NEA Report that a detective has been interviewing people throughout the weekend to try to clear up what happened.
“As you know, there are always three sides to every story,” Elms said.
NEA Report will continue to follow this story for further developments.
Have video of this incident? Send it to news@neareport.com or message it to us on Facebook.
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It makes no sense to me as to why someone wasn’t arrested on the spot. It doesn’t matter if it was a minor or not. Look at the brawl in Jonesboro. All adults and a lot continuing to be arrested. Thats the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. And so what if she was hit first. Be the better person and walk away. Period. I hope justice is served however is seen fit.
She has officially been arrested
I think the little girl decided to bow up on an adult in a public setting and act like an adult and she got her ass beat like one. Let the woman go.
You can clearly tell the girl is not an adult so she shouldn’t have hit the girl regardless if she hit hurt first or not
There are so many sides to story, no matter what the circumstances may be. Halloween night, costumes that disguise who or what age you are, then all the other people around.. does anyone have security cameras? Innocent until proven guilty. If one person was arrested then the other person should follow, minor or not. Just my opinion.
your personal freedom or rights end where they would infringe upon the rights or safety of another person. It illustrates the principle that one person’s liberty can be restricted when it harms others, most famously attributed to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.. A common version of this is, “Your right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins”.
Your right to swing your fist: This represents your right to act freely.
Ends where the other man’s nose begins: This is the point where your actions would cause harm to another person and infringe on their rights, such as their right to personal safety.
Harm Principle: The concept is often referred to as the “harm principle,” which holds that people should be free to act as they wish, as long as their actions do not cause harm to others.
Examples: This applies to many areas of life, from physical space to public behavior. For instance, playing loud music in your home is generally acceptable, but playing it so loud that your neighbor can hear it infringes on their right to peace and quiet in their own home. Similarly, you have the right to walk on a sidewalk, but not the right to hit someone while doing so.
It does not matter, an adult struck a child. Those injuries are not from just one hit. State Police Crimes Against Children should be involved as well as DHS and Child Services. Female Eubanks should loose her job as she is in a position of caring for others.
So what happened at Trish’s court appearance? I see the dad has removed all of his posts and the gofundme and asked the public to stop the witch hunt.