Police: Killing followed argument over woman

A man arrested in a fatal shooting at a Little Rock shopping center had been feuding with the victim over a woman, witnesses told police.

Brandon Deon Moore, 22, is accused of shooting to death Cortez Ferrell, 26, in a parking lot of Shackleford Crossings at 2600 S. Shackleford Road on April 21.

Moore pleaded innocent to a charge of first-degree murder Friday morning. Little Rock District Judge Alice Lightle set his bail at $100,000.

Police responded to the shopping center about 10:45 p.m. April 21, and found Ferrell lying in a parking lot between Cracker Barrel restaurant and J.C. Penney. Ferrell was bleeding from a gunshot wound in his chest. He was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, where he died.

Ferrell worked at the Cracker Barrel, according to police, and two of his co-workers witnessed the shooting. They said Ferrell had been arguing with a man driving a light blue Lincoln Town Car, and the man shot him once and fled.

Officers recovered one shell casing at the scene.

Police later learned that Ferrell worked at the restaurant with Moore's girlfriend, 23-year-old Latoya Woods. She told police that Moore drove a light blue Lincoln Town Car that belonged to his grandmother, and that Moore had texted her at work about Ferrell the day of the shooting, according to a court affidavit.

"You didn't tell me Cortez was here," the text message reportedly states.

A neighbor of Moore, who was not identified in the affidavit, told police that Moore said he shot a man in the chest outside the Cracker Barrel that night -- a man who had been "messing with his girl." According to the neighbor, Moore said he shot the man because the man approached him wanting to fight, and he was scared.

The next day, Moore purportedly told the neighbor he had taken apart a black and silver pistol and disposed of the pieces in the Arkansas River, Broadmoor Lake and on an unidentified roadside, the affidavit states.

"The witness stated that Mr. Moore told him he had to get rid of the gun," it states.

Cracker Barrel employee Andrea Harris, 23, told investigators that she picked up Ferrell to drive him home from work the night of the shooting. She said they noticed a light blue Lincoln Town Car circling the parking lot, and before Ferrell confronted the driver, he said, "You see that car over there? That's Latoya's boyfriend," according to the affidavit.

Harris told police that Moore and Ferrell had been "having words" over the woman earlier this year.

Police said they interviewed Moore the day after the shooting, and he declined to speak to investigators without an attorney or submit to a gunshot residue test. But Moore did reportedly tell police that a light blue Lincoln Town Car was parked at 4914 W. 29th St., about 6 miles from where the shooting occurred. Police impounded the vehicle as evidence.

Moore, of 8821 Old Spanish Trail, again declined to speak to investigators after his arrest Thursday, police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen said.

Moore remained in the Pulaski County jail late Friday.

Ferrell's slaying was Little Rock's eighth homicide of the year.

Metro on 05/09/2015

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