The owner of a tattoo and piercing shop in Little Rock shot and killed a homeless woman late Monday after she threw rocks through his store windows, according to police.
Officers responded about 11:4o p.m. to The Vault Studios Tattoo & Body Piercing at 3901 S. University Ave. They found Kathryn Pawlak, 48, lying in the parking lot. Pawlak was taken to UAMS Medical Center, where she died.
Pawlak was last known to live at 3612 Foster St., but she was homeless when she was killed, police said. Her death was the 40th homicide of the year in Little Rock.
Detectives interviewed the shop owner, Michael DeCarlo of 1105 Booker St., and determined that he had shot Pawlak after she threw rocks through the front windows of his store, according to an arrest report. DeCarlo and Pawlak didn't know each other, according to the report.
Further information about the slaying was unavailable.
"The details of this investigation are limited and unclear," police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen said in a news release.
DeCarlo, 50, was charged with second-degree murder. He was being held in lieu of bail at the Pulaski County jail late Tuesday. His first appearance in district court is scheduled for this morning.
A woman who answered the phone at The Vault Studios on Tuesday afternoon said she and others at the shop had no comment about the slaying.
Metro on 11/26/2014