Arkansas high school football star charged in second assault

David Beasley
David Beasley

PINE BLUFF -- A Pine Bluff High School football standout and a Little Rock man, already in jail after their arrest in connection with a shooting Saturday, face three additional counts of aggravated robbery and felony battery.

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Pine Bluff senior David Beasley, 18, and Dontarrius Murry, 20, appeared Wednesday in Pine Bluff District Court, accused of robbing a 21-year-old man, a 23-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman at gunpoint in the area of 1107 W. Saracen St., Pine Bluff, at about 10:45 p.m. Friday.

Murry was a high school friend of one of the victims, according to a police report and a probable-cause affidavit.

One of the victims told police that a black man with dreadlocks appeared on the driver's side of his vehicle and held two guns to his head, the affidavit said.

"[The victim] said the subject with dreadlocks stated to him, 'This is a mother f*** robbery on crip get out of the vehicle,'" Pine Bluff police detective Cassandra Briggs-McAfee said in the affidavit.

The victim said he was pulled from the vehicle and ordered to lie facedown on the ground.

"[The victim] stated that he saw at least four people with guns including Murry and Beasley," Briggs-McAfee said in the affidavit. He was struck several times in the head and ear with a gun, causing him to black out and lose part of his left ear, the affidavit said.

The other two victims told police they were held at gunpoint and ordered out of the vehicle. Debit cards, cellphones, a purse and a handgun were taken during the robbery, according to the affidavit.

The victims were shown four six-man photo lineups Monday and identified Murry and Beasley as two of the four men involved in the robbery.

Beasley, who is about three weeks away from graduation, was a three-year starter at wide receiver and defensive back for Pine Bluff High School and a first-team member of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps football team after helping lead the school to Class 6A state championships in 2014 and 2015. He signed in February to play football at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La.

Beasley's mother, Kelley Walker, said Wednesday outside the court building that her son had never been in trouble and that she believes the criminal allegations against him are "a conspiracy to sabotage his future."

"I'm just praying for all the kids, including the victims -- everybody that's involved," Walker said.

Murry's mother ran from the courtroom sobbing.

Briggs-McAfee attempted to interview Beasley and Murry on Monday in the Jefferson County jail, where they were being held in connection with a shooting early Saturday morning at Collegiate Drive and South University Drive.

Beasley, Murry, former Pine Bluff basketball player Marquie Smith, 18, and Jamarea Wainwright, 18, of Pine Bluff were arrested in the shooting of Tyron Walker, 21. The four appeared Monday in Pine Bluff District Court and face one count each of aggravated robbery and first-degree battery. Murry faces an additional count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police said Walker was robbed of a backpack and shot outside a vehicle as he was talking to four men. The shooting occurred at a convenience store near the Cedar Cabin nightclub. After Walker was shot, witnesses said he ran toward University Drive and then collapsed in the roadway, according to the affidavit.

A witness and friend of Walker described the shooter as a "tall, light-skinned black male with long dreads." Walker later picked Beasley from a photo lineup as the man who shot him.

Walker was listed in good condition Tuesday at Jefferson Regional Medical Center. It is not known whether he was still in the hospital Wednesday.

Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney raised Murry and Beasley's bail from $100,000 to $350,000 Wednesday. Smith and Wainwright are both being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.

The four charged in Walker's shooting are scheduled for another court appearance June 13. Beasley and Murry are set to return to court on the additional charges June 15.

State Desk on 04/28/2016

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