Arkansas Anchorwoman Dies After Beating

Anne Pressly Found Severely Beaten Earlier This Week In Her Home; Died Later In Hospital

(AP)  An Arkansas television anchorwoman died Saturday, several days after being found beaten in her home when she didn't answer her wake-up call, hospital officials said.

Anne Pressly, 26, died at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Margaret Preston said.

In a statement released by the hospital, Pressly's parents Guy and Patti Cannady asked for privacy as they grieved their daughter's death.

"It was our hope, as was yours, that Anne would overcome the injuries inflicted upon her in the brutal attack at her home," the statement read. "We were with her in her last moments, and although our hearts are broken, we are at the same time comforted by our faith knowing that Anne is now with our heavenly father."

Pressly was beaten around the head, face and neck. She had been unable to communicate with her family or police while being kept sedated in the intensive care unit.

She was discovered Monday morning a half-hour before she was to appear on ABC affiliate KATV's "Daybreak" program. Her mother went to her home after she didn't answer her regular wake-up call.

Little Rock police have yet to identify a suspect.

Pressly was a native of Greenville, S.C., and moved with her family to Little Rock while she was in high school. She is a graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.

Pressly had a small role in the new Oliver Stone movie "W.," which was filmed in Shreveport, La. She appears briefly as a conservative commentator who speaks favorably of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" event on an aircraft carrier shortly after the start of the Iraq war.

[biomegaly]

You know what I changed my mind about Obama! I think he will be better for national security and the economy!
Posted by hillaryin0I2 at 08:48 PM : Oct 26, 2008

...cant you stop thinking about the election for one minute and mourn this innocent woman! JEEZE!

...rest in peace

[luvcanines]

i was so hoping and praying she''d recover. what a waste of a bright life. i hope the person(s) that did this to her and her family is swiftly caught and imprisoned until death.

[wl7bzh]

Seems like you got some kind pre-emptive political correctness of your own to sell even before anything is known.

Wierd.

Posted by CBS_Oliver at 10:15 PM : Oct 26, 2008

Or just maybe I have hit a nerve on some little quirk in your character, lifestyle, or belief system to which you are overly defensive?

Methinks thou dost protest too much.

"wierd"? Aw!-name calling and verbal taunts? You are on the defense. ; )

[jghutto]

I feel that if it was a burglary they would have just killed her. For her to sustain such a facial beating I feel it was a hate crime, and probably related to her playing that small part in the movie.

[wl7bzh]

As sick as our justice system has gotten, we may have the potential for the murderer to be spun into the victim. How, I don''t know, but political correctness has been taken too far in this country.

[janiet3]

Mr/Ms Green, Mr/Ms Black, Mr/Ms Gray, or Mr/Ms Yellow, they real name is Mr/Ms Murderer. There. Does that make it any more plain for you?

[janiet3]

Bless you, Rita. Good to know somebody really has a good heart!

[ritad7]

Please everyone, ignore the ignorant troll writing vile nasty comments and comparing crimes by their color. She is trying to incite and inflame just to start a race rant. A total idiot.

[janiet3]

I live in Little Rock, and I can tell you that this has been heartbreaking for all of us.

Law enforcement so far has been holding their cards very close. But, I can tell you what has been reported. Yes, mostly it was head injuried, and from what I gather every bone in her face was broken. They found blood in a nearby park trashcan, but are not saying if it''s hers, nor if there was bloody clothing or the like discarded. "Somebody" attempted to use her credit card I believe just an hour or two after the beating at an ATM, and you and I all know that ATM''s have security cameras. Hopefully they got a great snapshot of the face that made the attempt. They certainly are not saying, if so. Perhaps somebody was sent to use the card for the perp, knowingly or not, that it was stolen during a robbery/turned murder. Otherwise, you''d think they''d easily be able to identify him/her and make an arrest - and they haven''t.

Unless something I''m unaware of has been released today, this is all that''s been made public.

Dear God, be with her family and friends. May Ann rest in peace in Your arms forever. Amen

[ms1-1-1]

Anne Pressly, a morning anchor for Little Rock television station KATV, DEAD! SO WHAT! People die daily Anne Pressly received headline news for what BLONDE BLUE EYED WHITE?

I would like to sent my deepest condolences to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) no more taxes collected from dead. Now Congressional members and Senatorial members really ought to do something about that how sad no revenue intake from the DEAD? What a pitty.

[jellolion]

just what exactly is CBS trying to suggest here? What makes this the most highly read national news story? People get killed in my city all the timne, and that doesnt make national news.

[aggiekat2004]

What a shameful crime. Prayers to the family...this loss is unimaginable.

[cattlekate]

This is so sad. I am just so sorry and hope the family and friends can live on with the joy and hope Anne brought them. She will always live in them and their children.

This does not seem like a random robbery - it seems personal and I surmise the police are not revealing all of the details.

[rhs648]

This is very sad and my prayers go out to her family and friends. There seems to be an assunption that only a man could have done this. Some women are also capable of committing horrible crimes. Perhaps we should reserve opinion on whether a man committed this crimme until the police conclude their investigation and the culprit is caught.

[januaryair]

May the Lord bring some sort of comfort to the family and friends. Everyone who has heard this story finds sorrow and disgust in the senselessness. Please Lord hold her in your hands. Much love to the family and friends.

[meinnv]

My thoughts and prayers are with her family as they deal with this senseless tragedy.

No form of punishment would be good enough for the P-O-S B A S T A R D (S) who did this (SPACED IT OUT SO CBS wouldn''t delete it). The death penalty would be too humane for an INHUMAN being that committed this crime. And yet nothing less would do.

May this angel rest in peace and may her family find some peace as well.

And, can we keep politics out of this, just for once? She was a young victim of a horrible crime. A horrific act that the attackers need to suffer as punishment.

[ubrew12]

She was a newsperson in Arkansas who appeared in the movie W. She was beaten about the head opening weekend in an apparent robbery despite living in a wealthy neighborhood.

Just guessing, but the juxtaposition of ''W'', ''opening weekend'', ''newsperson'', and ''Arkansas'' has me pondering a nefarious motive.

[pirmin3]

When they catch the ba$**** that did this I hope they clamp his nut$ in a microtome and let her rip.

[sepa2]

May she never come to an untimely death in her future lives.

[mjax2008]

Our justice isn''t even close to God''s justice. "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord". I hope this criminal gets the justice he deserves.

My prayers go out to Anne''s family. I pray the wonderful memories they have of her will help sustain them through this difficult time. I pray the authorities catch this person quickly.

I''m just so sorry. It''s so *** sad and heartbreaking.