Two teenage brothers and a third youth have been arrested in connection with the deadly shooting of a University of Arkansas at Fort Smith student Saturday, police said.
The Fort Smith Police Department said brothers Shakur Shanden Sharp, 16, and James Lariel Sharp, 15, were arrested in central Arkansas on Wednesday and then transported back to Fort Smith. After they were interviewed, a third suspect, 16-year-old Dionte Parks, was arrested.
All three face charges of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping in the fatal shooting of Kaleb Watson, a 22-year-old student from Lamar.
Police said in a statement that the three suspects "collaborated together with a plan to rob Kaleb Watson in his home."
"Dionte Parks, who lived near the victim, is believed to have knocked on the victim’s front door to create a diversion as the Sharp brothers entered the victim’s back door," authorities said in a news release. "Fort Smith Police believe Shakur Sharp was armed with a 9mm handgun during the robbery, and shot Mr. Watson during a struggle."
The shooting occurred near an off-campus home on Windsor Drive around 7:30 p.m.
A police spokesman said Shakur Shanden Sharp was arrested in Little Rock and James Sharp was arrested in North Little Rock.
James Sharp's mother reported him missing the day before the killing, police have said.