LR man, 41, shot, killed

LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock man was killed and another man was wounded when an unidentified gunman opened fire on them as they sat in a pickup early Tuesday.

James Hornes, 41, of 10403 Milkyway Drive was pronounced dead shortly after Little Rock police officers found his body slumped over in a pickup at 1:20 a.m. The officers had been responding to a call from a deliveryman who said he saw a man shoot into the pickup 10 minutes earlier.

According to department spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings, the pickup’s engine was sparking and the tailpipe was on fire when police arrived. Officers pulled Hornes from the cab of the vehicle.

Stephen Taylor, who was in the pickup with Hornes, was shot four times but survived after fleeing out the driver’s side window, police said.

Taylor, 33, was taken to St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center with nonlife-threatening wounds and was in stable condition Tuesday afternoon, according to Hastings.

Johnnie Gage, a deliveryman for a food service company, was near the end of his shift when he turned onto Base Line Road from Arch Street on his way to a delivery. As he drove, he spotted two pickups next to each other at the east end of the Citgo at 5900 Base Line Road.

“I said, ‘Hey, that guy’s got a gun,’” Gage said he told Raymond Brinkman, who was riding with him. Then he saw the gun flash and heard the shots.

From the delivery truck, the two watched Taylor climb out the driver’s side window of the pickup and hit the ground running toward their car at the northeast edge of the intersection, reports said.

Gage said Taylor was moving pretty well, even though he’d been shot in the arm, shoulder and chest, according to police.

“He wasn’t limping that bad. He was in a pretty good run,” Gage said. “He was all discombobulated. ... I said, ‘He been hit,’ I could see the blood on his shirt.”

Gage said he called 911 before he and Brinkman went on with their deliveries.

“It messed me up a little [to see it],” Gage said. “My little helper, his eyes were, wow, it took him a few minutes before he said something.”

Minutes later, police caught up with Taylor, who said he and his friend were followed to the gas station by their attackers.

According to Taylor’s statement, he was at the Fun Wash at 5310 Base Line Road when a pickup approached carrying three Hispanic males who were asking “where to get a ‘ho’ [prostitute].”

Taylor told police that the men went on to accuse him of robbing one of them, at which point Taylor got into Hornes’ pickup.

The two drove along Base Line Road, Taylor said, and the men in the other pickup followed them into the lot behind the Citgo station, reports said.

“When they pulled onto the lot at Citgo, the tall, skinny dude started shooting, and he killed my homeboy,” Taylor told police.

Hastings said the relationship between the victims and the gunmen was still under investigation but that robbery detectives had ruled out that Taylor had robbed any of them.

There were no weapons or drugs found at the crime scene, Hastings said.

The only available description for the assailants were that they took off south on Geyer Springs Road in a burgundy pickup, and were Hispanic, according to police.

Hornes’ slaying is the 11th homicide in Little Rock this year.