A man arrested over the weekend in two Little Rock shootings, one of which was fatal, had been on parole after being convicted of drug-related offenses.
Bobby Campbell, 35, pleaded innocent Monday morning to charges of capital murder, aggravated robbery and two counts of first-degree battery. District Judge Alice Lightle ordered Campbell, of Little Rock, to be held in the Pulaski County jail without bail.
Campbell is accused of killing Gabriel Carter, 27, during a confrontation Wednesday afternoon at Carter's home. Officers responded at 3:42 p.m. to the residence at 1704 S. Fillmore St. and found Carter shot dead and his girlfriend, April Pride, suffering from a gunshot wound in her arm.
Court affidavits filed Monday offered new details on the shootings and how police developed Campbell as a suspect.
Pride said Carter had been on the phone with someone he knew before two men showed up at the residence Wednesday, an affidavit states. After a brief conversation with Carter, one of the men pulled a gun on Pride and demanded that she give him "the safe." The man shot Pride after she said there wasn't a safe, a report from authorities states.
Pride told police she pretended to be dead until the men left. She then found Carter slain in the hallway.
Pride, 33, was treated at UAMS Medical Center and released. She later identified Campbell as a suspect in a police photo lineup, according to an affidavit.
Police detective Charles Ray noted in the affidavit that Campbell and Carter are both from the same area of Monticello.
Police have not named other suspects in the case, the city's 10th homicide of the year.
Investigators connected Campbell to another shooting, on Friday, after reportedly finding his vehicle at the scene.
Officers responded about 4:12 p.m. to TCC Auto, a vehicle repair shop at 1 Voorhees Drive east of Stanton Road. Gary Graves, 30, had been leaving the shop after an argument with its owner when a man bumped into him, an affidavit states. The two began shoving each other, and the man pulled a revolver and shot Graves in the right shoulder. Witnesses said the gunman fled on foot.
Police said a gray Chevrolet Monte Carlo found at the shop was registered to Campbell. Graves and a witness later identified Campbell in a police photo lineup as the shooter, an affidavit states.
Sunday, Arkansas Department of Community Correction parole officers and Little Rock police found and arrested Campbell at Econo Lodge Inn & Suites, 9101 Mabelvale Pike.
Campbell had been on parole since July 25, 2013, according to Department of Correction spokesman Dina Tyler. He was convicted of fleeing, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance in June 2010.
In a typed letter to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims before he pleaded guilty in that case, Campbell asked for leniency in the case. He said he smokes crack cocaine to cope with personal problems but didn't sell the drug and that he was seeking treatment at a substance-abuse center.
"I have learned my lesson and asked that I be granted 9 months of rehabilitation service and 3 months of community service and a lifetime of showing you I've changed," Campbell wrote.
Sims sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Campbell served nearly 37 months of that sentence and was disciplined once for failing to obey staff orders. Tyler said prison officials found a cellphone battery in his bunk.
While on parole in April 2014, Campbell was cited for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Tyler said other than that, he had complied with the conditions of his release. She said Campbell had been employed and had never missed a meeting with his parole supervisor, except an occasion in February when he said he was sick. He reported to his parole supervisor the next month.
"He's working, he's doing OK and then he gets arrested for this," Tyler said. "He hadn't done anything horrible on parole."
Court records show Campbell was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by certain persons, both misdemeanors, in 2006. He was sentenced to one year of probation.
Campbell referred to that conviction in his letter to Sims, saying he had a gun because he'd witnessed a cousin's killing and was afraid for his safety.
Police said in an arrest report that Campbell, who was last known to reside at 5601 Meadowlark Drive, was "combative" after his arrest Sunday.
Metro on 05/05/2015