Murder suspect gets drug charge dropped

Trial still on in 2 women’s slayings

A double-murder suspect was acquitted of an unrelated drug possession charge Tuesday by a Pulaski County circuit judge.

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Tony Lenzaro Brooks, 29, is accused of killing two women about a week apart in June 2013. Both 50-year-old Gloria Summage and 31-year-old Amy Hughett were found dead in burning homes in Little Rock.

Brooks is charged with first-degree murder and capital murder in the slayings, with his first trial next month.

But on Tuesday, Judge Herb Wright halted Brooks' drug possession trial and dismissed the charge against him, ruling that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to submit their case to the nine men and three women of the jury.

In his decision, Wright sided with defense attorney Julia Jackson, who argued prosecutors could not prove that Brooks knew there were drugs in the car he was riding in April 17, 2013, about two months before the first woman, Summage, was killed.

Brooks had been paroled in March 2013 after convictions for escape and theft that he received in 2003 in Saline County, and for convictions for aggravated robbery and theft from 2005 in Pulaski County.

Police stopped the car about 1 a.m. after it had driven around two officers who were in the street while investigating reports of a disturbance at the Eastview Terrace Apartments on Geyer Street.

The officers saw that the car's license plate was expired, and the driver, 21-year-old Dedrick Rodrequiz Johnson of Little Rock, was arrested after police found he had outstanding warrants and his driver's license was suspended.

According to testimony at Tuesday's trial, police did not immediately intend to arrest Brooks, a passenger in the 2001 Mercury Marquis.

But when he ran from officers during a precautionary pat-down for weapons, officers used a police dog to track him to 1303 College St., where he was found halfway inside the crawl space of the home.

The drugs -- seven pieces of crack cocaine weighing about 1.5 grams and wrapped in a brown paper bag -- were discovered under the passenger seat during the subsequent search of the car.

Johnson, the car's driver and a first-time offender, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony, in October 2013 in exchange for three years on probation.

Jackson, the defense attorney, told the judge Tuesday before jury selection began that Johnson, subpoenaed to testify, had come to court that morning and told her the drugs were his, but that he was not going testify and left the courthouse.

Deputy prosecutor Jennifer Corbin argued that there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to the jury. Brooks running from police showed that he knew there was contraband in the car, she told the judge. Police testimony showed the bag of crack was right at Brooks' heels, she said.

Metro on 07/29/2015

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