A Little Rock man shot three times in the legs testified Thursday he is certain that a neighbor -- a complete stranger -- is the man who shot him in front of his home earlier this year.
Jacent Winston told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims that he'd never seen 47-year-old Henry Lewis Williams before the February day the defendant shot him in Winston's driveway for no reason.
Challenged by defense attorney Willard Proctor about whether he had identified the right man, Winston said he was sure Williams was the gunman. Winston said he didn't know Williams lived nearby on Short Spring Street until after the defendant had been arrested about a week later.
Proctor argued that investigators had improperly influenced Winston into picking his client out of a photographic lineup. Winston denied police had led him to identify Williams as his shooter.
The judge found no wrongdoing by police, clearing the way for the case to go to trial next month.
Williams is charged with first-degree battery and felon in possession of a firearm. He has prior convictions for gun possession, drug possession, second-degree battery, theft and forgery. Williams did not testify during the 31-minute hearing.
On Thursday, Winston testified that he was washing his pickup in front of his home at 3319 S. Broadway on Feb. 22 when Williams walked up to him and asked whether Winston was "Stephen's brother."
Questioned by deputy prosecutor Luke Daniel, Winston said he didn't know what Williams was talking about and that the man also asked him where Winston's mother worked, which didn't make sense because she's been dead since he was a child.
Winston, 33, said Williams' demeanor made him nervous, as did the fact that the man had a gun.
When Williams displayed the weapon, Winston said he pushed the gun away and it fired. He told the judge he ran and Williams chased him, firing at him.
Winston said he was struck in the leg and fell to the ground. He told the judge that Williams walked up to him and stood over him with the weapon, but when the man pulled the trigger again, the gun would not fire. The gunman then fled, he said.
Detective Jarred McCauley said Williams became a suspect almost immediately because the defendant's ex-girlfriend, Casandra Thomas, had reported to police that she had been attacked by him at approximately the same time as Winston's shooting and only about a block away.
Winston's description of his assailant -- a bald man dressed in red -- matched Williams, the detective testified.
Williams is charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor domestic battery against Thomas, but Proctor told the judge the woman does not want to pursue the criminal charges.
Metro on 09/19/2014