Police: Man held after fight with girlfriend now faces charges in fatal Arkansas shooting

Sammie Thomas Jr., 38, of Conway
Sammie Thomas Jr., 38, of Conway

A man held after an unrelated domestic incident now faces charges in a drive-by shooting in Conway last week that left another man dead, according to police.

Sammie Thomas Jr., 38, of Conway was initially arrested Wednesday on charges of first-degree false imprisonment and third-degree domestic battery stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend at the Holiday Inn Express on Sanders Street.

After further investigation, Thomas was charged with capital murder and possession of firearms by certain persons in the shooting death of Robert Lee Givens, the Conway Police Department said in a statement Thursday.

Givens, 66, was fatally shot around 12:30 a.m. Friday after taking his daughter to a local Wal-Mart store to buy a tire inflator, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

The shooter, initially described as a young black man, had driven up behind a vehicle Givens and his daughter were traveling in, flashing the lights on his SUV. That prompted Givens to then pull over and exchange words with the man, identified Thursday by police as Thomas, before Givens drove away, police said.

Thomas later pulled up beside Givens' vehicle on Donaghey Avenue near Independence Street and fired a shot that fatally struck him, according to authorities.

Thomas remained at the Faulkner County jail without bond as of Thursday afternoon, records show.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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