Little Rock police SWAT officers surrounded an apartment complex late Tuesday and were attempting to make contact with a murder suspect who they said they believe was in one of the apartments.
According to police spokesman Lt. Steven McClanahan, officers surrounded Breckenridge Square Apartments at 1001 Breckenridge Drive at approximately 11:45 p.m. in their search for Cory Dewan Brooks, 24, who is wanted in the shooting death of his girlfriend Monday night.
As of midnight, no arrest had been made.
Brooks is accused of killing Yolanda Renee Whitfield, 26, during an argument at his mother's home.
Officers were called at 10:53 p.m. Monday to the residence at 7825 W. 28th St. east of Boyle Park. They found Whitfield lying on the floor, shot in the chest, head, neck and back, according to a police report. She was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock, where she was pronounced dead.
Investigators determined that Brooks and Whitfield had been arguing in a bedroom when Brooks' mother, Teresa Ticey, intervened. Ticey, 45, told police she got between the two and Whitfield struck her several times. Brooks said, "Stop hitting my mother," and pulled a black handgun and shot Whitfield, the report said.
McClanahan said the nature of the dispute was unclear.
"From an investigative standpoint, it was confined to a home so there weren't a lot of witnesses," he said.
Brooks' two brothers were inside the residence when the shooting occurred, but they were in a different room.
Officers searched the area and found a black handgun under a 2012 Toyota Corolla parked in the driveway. Detective Tommy Hudson reported speaking on the phone to Brooks, who reportedly fled on foot. He said he asked Brooks to surrender, but Brooks hung up.
There were no signs of a crime scene Tuesday afternoon at the house, a one-story residence with a two-car garage and a basketball hoop in the driveway. A boy who answered the door identified himself as Brooks' brother and said no one else was home to speak to a reporter.
Ticey, reached by phone later Tuesday, declined to comment.
A search of Pulaski County court records using Brooks' name and birth date yielded no criminal history.
A call to Whitfield's mother, Lorene, was answered by a man who said the family did not want to speak to reporters.
Whitfield's killing was the 12th homicide this year in Little Rock.
Metro on 06/03/2015