Arkansas Officer Charged After Shooting And Killing Two Family Dogs Inside Their Home

Haley Smallwood was reaching for Max when the first shots rang out.

The Rottweiler had just come out of a bedroom in her Palestine, Arkansas, home. Nala, the family’s pit bull, followed him into the hallway. Within moments, both dogs had been shot, and children inside the house could be heard crying.

In September, the officer who fired, Harold Holland, was charged with first-degree assault. By then, Smallwood and her family had spent weeks living in the same house where they lost Max and Nala. The bullet holes were still in the floor.

Max And Nala Were In A Nearby Bedroom

On July 28, Holland was at Smallwood’s home while her ex-husband collected belongings following a domestic dispute. Smallwood said Holland had been told several times that dogs were inside. Max and Nala were being kept in a nearby bedroom while the adults spoke.

Then a door was left open. Max came out first, and Smallwood reached toward him. She later told WREG she’d barely had time to try to grab him before Holland started shooting. She was right behind Max and close enough, she said, that a bullet could have struck her.

The Bodycam Captured What Happened Next

When the Palestine Police Department released the footage in late September, it showed Smallwood reaching for Max just before Holland fired. He then fired at Nala as she followed Max out of the room. WREG’s review of the footage put the number of shots at about eight.

Afterward, a family friend asked Holland whether the dog had bitten him. Holland said no and said the dog had come at him. He described the dogs as aggressive, an account Smallwood disputed.

Smallwood said six children were inside when the shots were fired. Later, one of her sons came home and learned that at least one of his dogs had died. Smallwood told WREG that she’d watched the beginning and end of the recording, skipping the part where Max and Nala were shot. Seeing her son’s reaction was hard enough.

The Officer Was Charged In September

The St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office investigated and sent its findings to the prosecuting attorney. Holland was booked on Sept. 9 and released that afternoon. Smallwood told WREG the charge stemmed from how close she was when he fired. WREG reported on the booking and Smallwood’s response.

Palestine Police Chief Jeff Nichols later confirmed the charge was first-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor under Arkansas law. In late September, Nichols said Holland was still employed by the department. Smallwood said she was considering legal action because she wanted accountability and didn’t want another family to go through the same thing.

The Family Still Lives In The House Where It Happened

When Smallwood talked about what life was like after the shooting, she pointed to something her family saw every day. “We have to look at the bullet holes in the floor,” she told WREG.

There’s another picture of Max and Nala, one Smallwood shared with the station. It shows the two dogs together, the way their family knew them before strangers ever heard their names. For everyone coming to this story through the bodycam footage, that’s a picture worth spending a little more time with.

Share Max and Nala’s story to honor their memory, stand with the family who loved them, and support Haley Smallwood’s call for accountability.