North Little Rock police are investigating after a man convicted in a gang killing in 1994 was shot to death early Monday.
Officers responded at 3:24 a.m. to Wal-Mart at 4450 McCain Boulevard. They found Robert Leon Scales, 44, on the ground on the east side of the parking lot. Police said he'd been shot at least once. Scales was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Dedrick said detectives had interviewed two people involved in the shooting, including a woman who works at the Wal-Mart who had a child with Scales. No charges had been filed in the case Monday afternoon.
Dedrick said police believe the shooting began as a domestic dispute, but further details were unclear. Investigators were reviewing surveillance footage from the Wal-Mart.
Dedrick said police had not ruled out self-defense.
"We're looking at that possibility and we've talked to individuals involved, and we have not charged anyone yet," Dedrick said.
Court filings show Scales and another man, Nathaniel Thomas, were convicted of murder in 1994 after they fatally shot David Eskridge, 21, during a gang initiation in North Little Rock. Scales and Thomas, then 20, killed Eskridge on the order of Rodney Spencer, a Wrightsville prison boot camp sergeant who used his position to recruit Thomas and other youths to join the Indianapolis Death Crips, according to reports.
Spencer, who was 26 years old at the time, negotiated a guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to commit capital murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Thomas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a 50-year prison sentence.
Scales of North Little Rock initially pleaded innocent by reason of mental disease or defect. He later negotiated a guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released on parole in 2000, according to Arkansas Department of Correction records. Afterward, Scales had other stints in prison on felony drug and firearm possession convictions.
Most recently, in November 2010, he was convicted of second-degree domestic battery, a felony, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released on parole two years later.
Scales' death is the fourth homicide this year in North Little Rock.
Metro on 05/24/2016