North Little Rock police are investigating a homicide after a bail bondsman was found dead near his home Friday morning, authorities said.
Officers were called to the 4800 block of Ira Street around 3:40 a.m. and found the victim, identified as 36-year-old Damian Mitchell, North Little Rock Police Department spokeswoman Carmen Helton said.
Mitchell, who lives in the 4700 block of Ira Street, had been shot, she said. He was dead was police arrived.
Mitchell was listed as a bondsman on the police report. The company Mitchell Bail Bonds Inc. is based at the 36-year-old's address, according to its website.
No suspects have been identified. Police were interviewing witnesses Friday morning, she said.
Mark Robinson, Mitchell's neighbor, said he was going to the store for some water early Friday when he heard some “commotion.”
The 41-year-old took a step outside, heard a single gunshot and spotted a man who looked as if he was lying down on the train tracks across the road, he said.
“He didn’t move. He just stayed in the same position,” Robinson said.
Robinson called 911 and waited for police. When authorities showed him a photo of the victim, he realized it was Mitchell, his neighbor of about four years. He said Mitchell loved to barbecue in warm weather with a few close friends.
Robinson said Mitchell was a longtime acquaintance who bonded him out of jail once before. Their families grew up in nearby neighborhoods.
“It kind of surprised me, it really did,” Robinson said.
Christy Hudson, an employee with Mitchell’s firm, said she first noticed him at the Pulaski County jail a couple years ago. He sported white sunglasses and a smile.
“And I thought, ‘How cute,’ because you didn’t see men in white sunglasses,” she said.
Hudson later came to work for Mitchell’s business. She described him as a motivated man who took time to chat up his countless friends. She spent many of their phone calls on hold while he alternated between lines, she said with a laugh.
Mitchell enjoyed cooking out with family, and he had a full heart for his mother and son, Hudson said. She didn’t know him to have any enemies and said his death was met with disbelief.
“He’s just one of those people where once you met him, you knew him,” she said.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
