July 18, 2024

MARIANNA, Ark. — On Monday, July 15, 2024, Nathan Bridges, 34, pleaded guilty to First-Degree Murder and First-Degree Battery in the 2022 death of a 5-year-old boy in the Moro community, west of Marianna in Lee County.

Bridges was sentenced to 60 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

The body of Blu Rolland, 5, was uncovered beneath a floor inside his family’s home on Dec. 16, 2022, the day he would have turned 6.  The Lee County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Arkansas State Police’s (ASP) Criminal Investigation Division.

Special Agents also investigated injuries sustained by a 6-year-old girl who lived in the home.

ASP arrested Bridges and Ashley Rolland, 30, the mother of the children, and transported the couple to the Lee County Detention Center.

Rolland faces multiple felony charges, including Capital Murder, Permitting Child Abuse, Abuse of a Corpse, Tampering with Physical Evidence, Endangering the Welfare of a Minor, and Battery. Her case is still awaiting trial in Lee County.