The last of four defendants arrested in connection with the April 2012 slaying of a waiter during the armed robbery of a west Little Rock restaurant was sentenced to four years of probation Wednesday after cooperating with prosecutors against the convicted killers - two brothers, one of whom is the father of her child.
The men have been convicted of armed robbery and the capital murder of Jesus Herrera, receiving automatic life sentences. All four defendants worked at the eatery, the now-closed El Chico on Breckenridge Drive.
The restaurant was stormed by two masked, armed men who forced all of the patrons and workers - but Herrera - into a walk-in refrigerator. The men escaped with about $1,200 from the safe after killing Herrera, leaving his body in the kitchen next to the exit.
Prosecutors said the brothers didn’t like Herrera because of his strong work ethic and that he was chased down and shot in the back, then finished off with a close-range shot to the head. Authorities have said they don’t know which of the brothers shot him.
Kenya Denise Smith, now 21, pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension for accepting some money from the holdup and trying to help the brothers cover up their involvement.
In a bid for leniency, she promised to testify against Zackeya Perry, 21, and Kiywuan Perry, 25, the father of her 3-year-old son, and did so at their respective trials in August and March, telling jurors Kiywuan Perry had told her about a plan to rob the restaurant and shoot Herrera.
Smith described at trial how she had picked Perry up near the restaurant. She also testified she heard Zackeya Perry talking about how he fired his gun during the holdup and saw the brothers with the $1,200 stolen from the restaurant.
After hearing that Smith is close to graduating from technical school and has a full-time job at a fast-food restaurant, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright sentenced her to four years of probation with a $1,000 fine and required her to perform 100 hours of community service within a year.
Smith had been scheduled for sentencing last week, the same day getaway driver Quantez Dobbins, 21, was sentenced. But she was jailed for a week after testing positive for marijuana because the judge said he couldn’t sentence her if there was a question of whether she was under the influence of drugs. Her attorney blamed the positive test for a “mistake” she had made attending a birthday party two days before that court appearance.
Capital-murder and aggravated robbery charges against Dobbins were dropped in exchange for his turning state’s evidence and testifying against the brothers. He pleaded guilty to robbery for his role in the crime and received a two-year prison sentence to be followed by a three-year suspended sentence that requires him to either be working or in school full time.
At trial, defense attorneys asked jurors to be skeptical of Dobbins’ and Smith’s testimony, arguing the pair had greater involvement in the crimes than they admitted.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 04/18/2014