Homeless man held in overnight stabbing death

Leslie Charles Webb.
Leslie Charles Webb.

A 30-year-old homeless man has been ordered held in lieu of $1 million bond after being arrested in the stabbing death of a man late Tuesday night.

Police say Leslie Webb first reported a man he didn't know, identified later as 45-year-old Willie Taylor, awakened him at a camp he maintains near railroad tracks that run by 1400 North St. and began hitting him with a flashlight about 11:30 pm.

Webb said he then stabbed the man with a pocket knife before fleeing the area and flagging down motorists to call 911, according to a Little Rock Police Department report.

Webb led officers back to the camp, where Taylor was found dead.

Webb was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder after police determined "the circumstances of the death were different" from Webb's initial recounting and that the "meeting was prearranged," the report said. It added that the two men knew each other.

Webb didn't speak in a first court appearance Wednesday morning by video before Little Rock District Judge Alice Lightle.

During the hearing, prosecutors said Webb "changed his story" at one point, telling officers later that Taylor "held his arm, he got nervous and began to stab him."

A public defender representing Webb for the hearing described him as a former Marine who came to Little Rock about 6 months ago to seek treatment for drug addiction through a Veterans Affairs program.

In addition to setting the high bail, Lightle entered a preliminary innocent plea for Webb.

Taylor's death marked the 19th homicide in Little Rock so far this year.

Map

1400 North St., Little Rock.

1400 North St., Little Rock.

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