El Chico workers held in killing

2 robbed LR eatery, 2 helped plan, police say; co-worker shot

Kiywuan Perry is escorted on Monday to a Little Rock patrol car headed to the Pulaski County jail after he was arrested in a robbery Sunday night at the El Chico restaurant, 1315 Breckenridge Drive, in which one man was shot and killed.
Kiywuan Perry is escorted on Monday to a Little Rock patrol car headed to the Pulaski County jail after he was arrested in a robbery Sunday night at the El Chico restaurant, 1315 Breckenridge Drive, in which one man was shot and killed.

— Four restaurant employees face capital murder charges after they were arrested Monday in connection with a robbery the night before of a west Little Rock El Chico in which another employee was shot and killed.

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Kiywuan Perry, 23, of Little Rock; his brother Zeckeya Perry, 19, of North Little Rock; Quantez Dobbins, 19, of Little Rock; and Kenya Smith, 19, of Little Rock also face charges of aggravated robbery and theft in the holdup of the restaurant on Breckenridge Drive, north of North Rodney Parham Road, shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday.

Jesus Herrera, 39, a server who had worked at the restaurant for more than 12 years, had finished several marathons and had been confirmed as a Catholic earlier this month, was shot in the upper torso during the robbery and was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Little Rock police spokesman Sgt.

Cassandra Davis, Dobbins was arrested at 8118 W. Markham St. at 7:30 a.m. Monday. Smith turned herself in to police at the downtown headquarters a half-hour later.

The Perry brothers were arrested at Zeckeya Perry’s apartment at 5901 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in North Little Rock at 3:45 p.m., police said.

Police found a small amount of cocaine while arresting Zeckeya Perry and also charged him with possession of cocaine, according to an arrest report.

Responding to television news reporters’ questions as the brothers were led to patrol cars that would take them from Little Rock police headquarters to the Pulaski County jail Monday evening, both brothers said they didn’t know why they were being arrested.

Kiywuan Perry, wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head, didn’t answer when asked if he had anything to say.

Zeckeya Perry, wearing a white T-shirt, responded by calling out, “Southside, nigga!”

Little Rock police Sgt. James Lesher declined to say which brother is accused of being the one who shot Herrera.

According to a police report released Monday, witnesses described four men as being involved in the robbery, but Lesher said investigators believe that is inaccurate and that only two men were involved.

Davis said police believe the Perry brothers were “active participants” in the robbery, and that Dobbins and Smith “helped with the planning of the robbery.”

Davis said Smith was working at the restaurant the night of the robbery, but she did not know if Dobbins was at work.

The report says the robbers, dressed in all black, with hoods over their heads and their faces covered, came into the restaurant and forced “everyone into the cooler.”

The witnesses heard five shots. When they emerged from the cooler, they found Herrera “unresponsive and bleeding” on the floor in the back of the kitchen, the report says.

Davis said the robbers took an undisclosed amount of cash from the restaurant before fleeing.

Davis said customers were in the restaurant at the time of the robbery, but she declined to say whether the robbers corralled them into the back along with the employees, saying that is “part of the investigation.”

The restaurant was closed Monday and was surrounded with yellow crime-scene tape until late in the morning.

About 11 a.m., a man and woman wearing employee uniforms arrived at the restaurant and were met by police who emerged from the business and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint.

The man and woman were questioned at Little Rock police headquarters and released, Lesher said. He declined to release their names, saying investigators don’t believe they were involved in the robbery.

Jim Brock, a regional manager for the restaurant chain, said he expected the restaurant to reopen today.

He said Herrera started as a busboy at the restaurant in 1999 and became a server a year ago.

He attended Spanish-language services at St. Edward Catholic Church, where his brother, Cirilo, and Cirilo’s wife, Claudia, teach classes for 4-year-olds, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Jason Tyler, said.

Tyler said Jesus Herrera,who was single and did not have children, was a longtime Catholic but had never been confirmed until a ceremony April 7.

The ceremony was the culmination of a program, involving a series of weekly classes, that Herrera started in August, Tyler said.

He described Herrera as “warm, very easygoing, very easy to talk to, a smile on his face,” and “a guy you could joke around with pretty easily.”

“It’s a tragedy, really, in so many ways,” Tyler said. “Here you have a guy who I can’t imagine having an ill wish for anybody, and he’s at work Sunday night and he gets killed while he’s there.”

In a statement, Brock said the company is a “close-knit family” and was grieving over the loss of one of its members in a “senseless act of violence.”

A phone message left at a number listed for Herrera was returned by Laine Munzberg, who described herself as a “part of” the Herrera family.

In an e-mailed statement on behalf the family, she described Herrera as “a wonderful family man of great character.”

“We are deeply saddened for this great loss,” Munzberg said in the statement. “He will be dearly missed by his many friends, co-workers, and his family that he was very close to.

“We trust that justice will be swiftly served and appreciate any prayers.”

Munzberg also provided photographs showing a smiling Herrera, wearing a skullcap and tank top with blue and-white Guatemalan flag designs, completing the Little Rock Marathon in 2006, with a time of 3 hours and 25 minutes. Results listed in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette indicate he finished the race several times, including this year on March 4.

The homicide was the 13th in Little Rock this year, Davis said. Last year at this time, the city had 12 homicides.

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 04/17/2012

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