Arkansas man allegedly admitted he strangled his fiancée to death after drinking with friends, police say

An Arkansas man allegedly admitted he strangled his fiancée after the two spent the day drinking with friends, police said.

On Nov. 21, officers responding to a call about an unresponsive woman found Sabrina Benson lying dead in the hallway of a residence in Jonesboro, KTVE/KARD reported.

Shadrack Ward, 38, told police at the time that he and 42-year-old Benson were drinking with friends earlier that day. According to police, Ward claimed that after their friends left, he heard Benson call out his name and he then found her unconscious on the floor.

Detectives initially believed Benson's death could have been the result of alcohol poisoning. An autopsy, however, later determined Benson’s death was the result of strangulation.

On Feb. 21, detectives again questioned Ward, who was incarcerated at the Craighead County Detention Center in connection to unrelated charges.

“Ward stated that they got into an argument about him wanting to leave and go drinking with some friends,” a probable cause affidavit obtained by television station KAIT reads. “Ward stated that Benson then came at him and he grabbed her with his hands...around her neck."

Two days after the police interview, Ward was arrested on a murder charge. He was being held in the Craighead County Detention Center on a $5,000,000 cash surety bond.