Joshua Napolitano pleaded not guilty in the August shooting death of his brother, Darrell Napolitano.

A not-guilty plea is the defendant's answer. It is not a finding, and the affidavit's account of a confession is not a verdict. The Democrat-Gazette reported that the felony information says he shot his brother in the head with a rifle and tried to shoot his brother's wife. A child was in the home. The child is not identified here.

The Arkansas Department of Public Safety said Madison County deputies asked the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division for help on Aug. 28, 2026. Deputies were called around 4:15 a.m. to a reported shooting in the 200 block of County Road 2361. They found Darrell Napolitano, 22, of Huntsville, dead at the scene. Joshua Napolitano was taken into custody there. The Democrat-Gazette reported he is held on a $350,000 bond and that Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor set the next date for Dec. 8. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces 10 to 40 years or life.

The Democrat-Gazette reported that a probable-cause affidavit says deputies found Darrell Napolitano in a bedroom, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, with a rifle on the floor. The paper reported that the affidavit says Joshua Napolitano told investigators he got the rifle, went into the bedroom while his brother slept, and shot him once, and that he said he waited until his brother was asleep so he could not be overpowered. The felony information says he then tried to shoot his brother's wife during a struggle. A child was in the home when the shots were fired. The child is not named and is not described further here.

What an affidavit says a defendant told police is evidence the state will offer. A not-guilty plea means he is putting the state to its proof. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.