LITTLE ROCK — Two men were shot, one fatally, outside a residence on Chicot Road in Little Rock late Wednesday night.
Police were called to the Whispering Hills Trailer Park at 11500 Chicot Road at 10:42 p.m. and found Pedro Perez, 36, who had been shot in the back, and Mario Sanchez, 23, who had been shot in the left foot at a residence on Lot 52, a police report states.
Perez was taken to UAMS Medical Center, where he died from his injuries about 11:30 p.m., Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs said.
Sanchez was also taken to UAMS, where he was listed in stable condition Thursday afternoon, police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said.
Jose Mendoza, 25, told police that he was standing on the front porch of the residence of Joshua Butron, 20, with Butron, Sanchez and Perez when the men were approached by two black males who asked for a cigarette, a police report states.
Mendoza told the men that no one had a cigarette, and the two men walked away. Ten to 15 minutes later, Mendoza said, he saw the two men behind a neighboring trailer, pointing handguns at the group, the report states.
Shots rang out and all four of the men ran inside the house, where Mendoza saw that Perez was bleeding from his abdomen and Sanchez was bleeding from his left foot.
Hastings said he was unsure of the relationships among the four men on the porch, but Perez, Sanchez and Mendoza had Nashville, Tenn., addresses. Butron lived at the residence where the shooting occurred, according to police reports.
Hastings said police do not think that the Wednesday homicide was connected to the early Tuesday morning shooting death of James Hornes, 41, inside a pickup at the Citgo station at 5900 Base Line Road. Stephen Taylor, 33, who was shot along with Hornes, told police that he and Hornes were followed to the Citgo by three Hispanic men, reports state.
Taylor said they were first approached by the men at the Fun Wash at 5310 Base Line Road where the three accused Hornes and Taylor of robbing one of them. After Taylor and Hornes were followed to Citgo, Taylor told police, “the tall, skinny dude started shooting, and he killed my homeboy.”
Taylor was shot four times but was able to flee out of the driver’s side window. He was taken to St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center with injuries police said were not life-threatening.
Perez’s slaying is the 12th homicide investigated by Little Rock police this year. By this date in 2011, Little Rock police had investigated 11 homicides, including two double homicides, records show.
No arrests had been made in the shooting deaths of Perez or Hornes by Thursday afternoon.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/06/2012