Inquiry into death of man found in creek continues

LITTLE ROCK — A McAlmont man found dead at a Sherwood residence last week had gunshot wounds in his right arm and abdomen, but a Sherwood Police investigation will have to help determine how Bryant Cross died, Pulaski County Coroner Mark Malcolm said.

The preliminary report was faxed to police late Friday evening, Malcolm said.

Sherwood Police have received the report, but they are withholding any information, saying it would "hinder the investigation."

Cross, 18, was found dead Oct. 23 by the wife of a Sherwood homeowner who had reported an attempted theft on his property 12 hours earlier. Larry Staley told police he fired in the direction of one of at least two men who tried to steal a four-wheeler from his property.

"We're not releasing any information," department spokesman Officer Ryan Baker said.

Detectives are trying to establish the timeline of events and still have interviews to conduct, Baker said. He said further information would be released "as soon as we can."

Staley's wife, Erlene, found Cross' body in Gap Creek at the edge of the family's property at 10701 Highway 107 Tuesday afternoon. Sherwood investigators have not verified Cross' role in the attempted theft, though they have said his death was a homicide.

The events began about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 23, when Erlene Staley woke to see two men running from their garage, Larry Staley said. She stayed awake to watch the men. When they returned 10 minutes later, she woke her husband and called 911.

Staley said that when he took up a position at the back door with a .22-caliber pistol in hand, he saw two men: a black man in a black-hooded shirt who was walking toward his shed and a white man who stood at the back corner of the house.

Suddenly, he said, the white man ran toward him. The man kept running when he was told to "freeze," so Staley said he fired a few shots into the tops of a small stand of pine trees in his backyard. When the man crossed Gap Creek and ran up an embankment, Staley fired a few more shots several feet to the left of the man, into the embankment.

A search of the property by four Sherwood officers who responded to the call failed to turn up any sign of the intruders early that morning.

Sherwood Police arrested Lamarcus Dunn, 18, of North Little Rock on Wednesday and charged him with criminal trespass and attempted theft of property. He was released on bond.

Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley has not been briefed on the investigation. If there are any gunshot wounds, technicians will have to match bullets to the gun, he said. Autopsy reports and witness statements may also still be needed, he said.