ROLAND, Ark.- On Memorial Day, Arkansas State Police say that 31-year-old Matthew Garrett attacked his father, Donnie Garrett, with a machete at their home in Roland. Park rangers with Pinnacle Mountain State Park were first to the scene, and they found Matthew with a machete in his hand. They then shot and killed him.
But Matthew’s family says he wasn’t supposed to be living with his father at all. He was supposed to be in a rehabilitation clinic under a court order, but they say he was able to leave the facility under his own free will.
“He shouldn’t have been able to leave. He wasn’t supposed to be able to leave. He was supposed to have been under state care,” said Matthew’s brother, also named Donnie.
Arkansas State Police investigating after alleged machete attack near Pinnacle Mountain State Park
Court records show that Matthew had previously attacked his mother, Jenelle, in 2024. He was deemed mentally unfit for trial, and was supposed to go to the Arkansas State Hospital for psychiatric treatment. Instead, he spent two years in White County Detention Center…