Two teenagers accused of killing a woman during a robbery Sunday in Little Rock pleaded innocent to capital murder charges Monday.
Kevin Williams Jr., 15, and Ramale Collier, 18, also face charges of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and felony theft of property in the death of Eunice Lopez.
Police said the teens robbed and shot Lopez outside her home at 8401 Keats Drive shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday. Lopez, 27, was reportedly holding her 2-year-old daughter at the time.
Lopez died from her injuries at UAMS Medical Center.
Both teens surrendered to police later Sunday after the department obtained warrants for their arrest.
The mostly Hispanic area around Lopez's neighborhood ranked high in robberies and violent crimes last year, according to Little Rock Police Department data.
Police Chief Kenton Buckner said many of the holdups, including Lopez's, were cases of "black on brown targeting."
Williams and Collier appeared in court Monday morning through video from the Pulaski County jail. Neither spoke at the hearing, during which prosecutors said both have previously been charged with felony theft.
District Judge Alice Lightle ordered the two to be held without bail.
A police affidavit released Monday provided new details of the robbery-turned-killing. Witnesses told investigators that Williams and Collier were among five youths walking near Lopez's home, and that Williams decided to rob Lopez "when he saw the victim getting her child out of her vehicle in her driveway."
The affidavit states that Williams, armed with a 9mm pistol, grabbed Lopez's purse and knocked her to the ground, then fired one shot that struck Lopez in the torso. He later told Collier that he "didn't mean to shoot" Lopez, according to the court filing.
Officers found Lopez's purse, along with blood, in the backyard of 5816 Chaucer Lane, just west of the holdup.
A witness told police that Williams and Collier fled to the residence with Lopez's purse after shooting her, according to the affidavit.
Police said the witnesses, who were not named in the affidavit, also identified Williams and Collier in a photo lineup.
A string of armed holdups in the southwest Little Rock neighborhood in the first two months of 2015 led police to increase patrols in the area.
Police arrested a man who they believed was part of a robbery crew targeting Hispanics, but he was later cleared of charges.
At the end of 2015, the police district that includes Lopez's neighborhood and one adjacent to it were among the highest in robberies and violent offenses, according to department data. There are 24 police districts.
The 82nd district, south of Baseline Road and east of Chicot Road, reported 57 robberies and 179 violent offenses, both in the top five statistically.
The 81st district, Lopez's neighborhood, north of Baseline Road and east of Chicot Road, logged the most robberies, 68, and second-most violent offenses, 204.
Lopez's death was one of three homicides in the city Sunday.
Junius Pitts, 19, of Little Rock, was shot to death in a drive-by shooting at Asher Avenue and Fair Park Boulevard, according to police. Investigators said they were seeking a white sedan in the killing, but they had not named any suspects.
Another Little Rock resident, Alex Ward, 25, was found fatally shot at 14 Baltimore St., south of Granite Heights Park in the southeast part of the city.
Officers found eight 9 mm shell casings near Ward's body, according to a police incident report. A white Chevrolet Impala and a gold-colored sedan were reportedly seen fleeing the area.
No arrests had been made in those killings, which police said aren't connected.
"Our entire community should be outraged at what took place this weekend," Buckner said. "We had some very young people lose their lives at the hands of some even younger people. I think that should be a shock to all our consciences."
Mayor Mark Stodola, speaking to reporters after an unrelated news conference Monday morning, shared a similar sentiment.
"How and why a 15-year-old can easily get a gun is obviously something that this community and communities around the country are struggling with," he said.
Stodola and Buckner noted that the number of homicides last year, 30, was the lowest in five years. Additionally, preliminary police data show overall crime decreased a second straight year to lows not seen in decades.
The deaths of Lopez, Pitts and Ward were the third, fourth and fifth homicides of 2016.
"It's incredibly sad ... We should have that same shock when these young black males are dying every day, because that's a problem," said Buckner, who is black.
"Yesterday was a vivid reminder that we still have a lot of work to do," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Brandon Riddle of Arkansas Online.
Metro on 02/02/2016