Conway man misses hearing

LITTLE ROCK — A Conway man facing murder charges was supposed to show up for a pretrial hearing in Hot Springs on Monday.

But he didn’t make it.

Early Monday morning, 911 operators received a frantic call from Karon D. Mohammed — then the line went dead.

Conway police say Mohammed is being treated as a missing person.

In Hot Springs on Monday, Mohammed’s defense attorney, Frank Shaw, told a circuit judge and the prosecutor that his client wouldn’t make his preliminary hearing, which had been scheduled for that morning. Garland County Circuit Judge John Homer Wright issued a warrant for Mohammed’s arrest.

A jury trial remains scheduled to begin Thursday, said Beverley Cowart, Garland County deputy circuit clerk.

Mohammed, 28, was taken into custody Dec. 28, 2009, after he turned himself in regarding the murder of Sean T. Robinson, 26.

He has been charged with first-degree murder, felony firearm enhancement and habitual offender — he could face life in prison. He was released on a $50,000 bond Dec. 22, 2010. Mohammed posted bond with help from First Arkansas Bail Bond, which declined to comment Monday.

Mohammed called 911 at 5:40 a.m. Monday and said that he heard some funny noises inside his home, said LaTresha Woodruff, spokesman for the Conway Police Department. He whispered into the phone and seconds later, he said, “whoa” and the 911 operator heard a struggle and noises in the background, Woodruff said.

Then the call was disconnected.

Police arrived at 1760 S. Salem St., Apartment 6, in Conway, five minutes later and found scattered drops and smears of blood on the carpet and walls throughout the apartment. Police also located a hole in the wall — possibly from an elbow crashing through it, Woodruff said. Mohammed was not in the apartment, but his brother, Kameron Mohammed, was. Kameron Mohammed told police he wasn’t awakened by any loud noises.

“We have no idea where he is and we are investigating the situation as a missing person who has possibly been abducted,” Woodruff said.

On Dec. 26, 2009, police responded to a report of shots fired in the 200 block of Main Street in Hot Springs. A witness said she looked out her window after hearing gunshots and saw Mohammed — a person she knew as K.D. — getting out of the passenger door of a silver Buick and running to a silver car parked behind it.

Mohammed then drove away with another person in the passenger seat, police reports say. The woman went outside and saw Robinson shot dead in the driver’s seat of the Buick.

Detectives also spoke with a second witness, the man who rode in the passenger seat of Mohammed’s vehicle. The witness said Mohammed planned to purchase drugs from Robinson. The witness said he heard three gunshots come from inside the Buick and then Mohammed got out of the passenger door holding a gun.

The witness said Mohammed returned to his vehicle with the drugs he planned to buy and said, “I let him have it.”

Shaw of Conway said Monday that he has “no idea” where his client is. Mohammed’s family doesn’t either.

Mohammed’s father, former Arkansas Razorbacks football player Alfred Mohammed of Conway, suffered chest pains after learning of his son’s disappearance and was taken to a hospital for diagnosis on Monday, Shaw said.

Shaw said he talked to his client late last week, probably Friday, to work on his case. Mohammed planned to contend at the trial that the killing was in self-defense.

This isn’t the first time Mohammed has been charged with felonies.

In 2006, Mohammed received four years of probation for fraudulent use of a credit card in Garland County. In 2007, he was incarcerated for two years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for unlawful possession of a controlled substance — he had more than 5 pounds of marijuana — and for the unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in Dallas County, Texas.

Mohammed’s family has strong ties to Arkansas sports.

Like his father, he played football until an injury brought his athletic career to a halt.

Mohammed was shot in the back several years ago when he tried to break up a fight while he was a student and football player at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Shaw said. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet from his back, and the injury ended Mohammed’s football career, Shaw said.

His father played offensive tackle for Lou Holtz’s Razorbacks as a four-year letterman from 1978-82. Mohammed’s uncle, Marvin Delph, played basketball for the Razorbacks and was one of the so-called “Triplets,” along with Ron Brewer and Sidney Moncrief. The three led Arkansas to a 32-4 record and the 1978 Final Four. Delph later became a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Information for this article was contributed by Debra Hale-Shelton of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.