Man who reportedly killed Walmart employee inside store said 'demon' was following him

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Published  April 4, 2026 1:50pm MST
FOX Local

File photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Brief

    • An Arkansas man is accused of fatally stabbing a Walmart employee inside the store late Wednesday night. 
    • The suspect, Zeddrick Ross, told police he thought he was killing the demon who had been following him, but he realized after it wasn’t the demon he believed he'd seen. 
    • The victim, 32-year-old Jordanne Drinkwater, was described by her friends and coworkers as "an amazing human being."

An Arkansas man has been charged with first-degree murder after he reportedly walked into a Walmart store and fatally stabbed an employee because he believed he was being followed by a demon, police said. 

According to a news release from the Conway Police Department, it happened Wednesday at 11 p.m.

Walmart employee killed

What we know:

Police in Conway said they were dispatched to a local Walmart after reports that an employee, 32-year-old Jordanne Drinkwater, was being stabbed. When they arrived, they found the suspect, 37-year-old Zeddrick Ross, still armed with a knife. Drinkwater died at the scene, police said. 

Police said they told Ross to drop his weapon but he wouldn’t. One officer shot at Ross and missed, while another tased him to get him into custody. 

Zeddrick Ross (Conway Police Department)

According to KTHV, Ross told police he was being followed by a demon, and stole a large knife from Walgreens and a machete from Walmart for protection. He said he saw the demon at Walmart and stabbed it in the neck and shoulder to kill it, but realized after that the victim wasn’t the demon he believed he saw. 

Ross was charged with first-degree murder and is being held on a $1 million bond. 

According to Fox News Digital, Ross' criminal history includes a 2020 misdemeanor theft conviction and a 2022 conviction for obstructing governmental operations. In 2022, he was sentenced to one year of probation.

Drinkwater was ‘an amazing human being,’ friends say

What they're saying:

Drinkwater, who was affectionately called Puff by her friends, was described as an "amazing human being." Sam Slaughter, who knew Drinkwater for nearly 10 years, told KATV she heard the tragic news when another friend texted her.

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"I called him and I said, ‘You’re kidding. It's not—not, not Jordan, not Puff, right? Like, that’s not Puff, right?’ And the world stopped," Slaughter said.

"I never met somebody as, as, as pure as Jordan. It was just I don’t—I didn’t understand. I still don’t understand why it had to be her. She helped change my entire life for the better—everything from staying sober to the way I think about the world and how it works and not putting more hate into it and just trying to do better. She was an amazing human being. She’s going to be so, so missed."

The Source: This report includes information from the Conway Police Department, KTHV and KATV.

Crime and Public SafetyArkansasNews