Little Rock makes 2nd arrest in slaying of toddler

Police link death, city’s crime spike

State Rep. Fred Allen (from left), Little Rock City Director Ken Richardson, the Rev. Benny Johnson and Stop the Violence member Walter Crockran speak Wednesday at Charles Bussey Avenue and South Harrison Street in Little Rock about the death of 2-year-old Ramiya Reed and other homicides in the city.
State Rep. Fred Allen (from left), Little Rock City Director Ken Richardson, the Rev. Benny Johnson and Stop the Violence member Walter Crockran speak Wednesday at Charles Bussey Avenue and South Harrison Street in Little Rock about the death of 2-year-old Ramiya Reed and other homicides in the city.

A second suspect in the November shooting death of a 2-year-old girl surrendered to Little Rock police at midday Wednesday.

Deshaun Rushing, 21, of Little Rock was arrested in the death of Ramiya Reed, who was shot Nov. 22 while riding in the back seat of a vehicle with her mother, police said.

Rushing was accompanied by his lawyer when he walked into police headquarters in downtown Little Rock and surrendered, said officer Steve Moore, a Police Department spokesman. Rushing faces one charge of capital murder and six counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

On Tuesday, police arrested 17-year-old Larry Jackson of North Little Rock in Ramiya's death and charged him with capital murder and six counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. He pleaded innocent Wednesday and is being held without bail.

Previous arrests of Larry Jackson, Deshaun Rushing

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Photos by Pulaski County sheriff's office

Ramiya's death intensified a feud between two "parties" and contributed to a spike in violent crime in west-central Little Rock this year, according to a memo sent from City Manager Bruce Moore to city leaders last month.

Police Department spokesman Lt. Steve McClanahan said Wednesday that some of the people involved in the feud are in rival street gangs consisting of members of the same families, their friends and other associates.

Jackson and Rushing are members of the same gang, according to police.

"It goes back to these shootings not being random in nature," he said. "These groups have been shooting at each other for some time."

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Photos by Ryan Tarinelli

McClanahan said it's unclear what started the feud, but police don't believe that the gangs are fighting over territory, as many gangs did in the 1990s.

"It could be girls, it could be narcotics, it could be something that was said," McClanahan said.

Rushing and Jackson were each injured in two shootings earlier this year, according to reports.

Jackson was shot March 20 in a carjacking outside an apartment complex at 6200 Colonel Glenn Road in Little Rock, according to police.

Rushing was injured in a shooting April 27 in the 1800 block of Park Lane. Police said Park Lane resident Shirley Jackson, 60, was killed in the gunfire. Police said she was an innocent bystander and had no connection to either man.

McClanahan said police are looking into whether those shootings are connected to the gang feud. No arrests have been made in either of those shootings.

Steve Moore, the police spokesman, said it's unclear how many members are in the rival gangs.

"They kind of fluctuate," he said. "That's the problem we kind of have, as opposed to the 1990s. They cross lines, too. Who may be hating each other may not be hating each other in a month so."

Steve Moore said Wednesday that no other arrest warrants have been issued in Ramiya's death. But he said that could change.

"I wouldn't say it's 100 percent over," he said.

Violent crime in Little Rock is up this year. Police recorded 1,285 violent crimes between Jan. 1 and May 15, a 21 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to preliminary Police Department data. Officials have said that a violent-crime uptick that began late last year has continued into this year.

A recent tip in Ramiya's case allowed investigators to obtain arrest warrants for Jackson and Rushing, police said Tuesday. Steve Moore on Wednesday declined to release the specifics of the tip but said investigators have a strong case against the suspects.

The two arrests come more than six months after Ramiya's death and weeks after a reward for an arrest and conviction in the case was raised to $50,000.

"It takes a while sometimes, but that's just part of it," said Steve Moore, who served as a homicide detective before he became a Police Department spokesman. "I've heard it said before, 'A homicide investigation is a marathon sometimes, not a sprint.'"

He said Rushing did not make a statement to investigators when he surrendered Wednesday.

Rushing's attorney, Mark Jesse, said his client has denied involvement in the killing and was shocked to learn that there was a warrant out for his arrest.

"He has consistently maintained that he is not involved," Jesse said.

Investigators questioned Rushing earlier this year in the child's death but released him without any charges, Jesse said.

Jesse said Rushing, accompanied by family members and his girlfriend, went to his North Little Rock office Wednesday morning before they went to the police station.

Jesse urged the public not rush to judgment in the case and said an arrest warrant does not indicate guilt.

On Wednesday morning, defense attorney Bill James appeared on behalf of Jackson for an arraignment before Little Rock District Judge Hugh Finkelstein.

"He has been in a little bit of trouble in the past," James said after the arraignment. "Generally he's been a good client whenever I've represented him before, and, as I told the court, he's always been available and easy to find."

James said Jackson "denies that he did anything." James said he will review the claims against the teen and go from there.

Elected officials and community leaders gathered Wednesday to offer their condolences to Ramiya's family and to show support for the person who supplied the tip that broke the case.

They stood at South Harrison Street and Charles Bussey Avenue, the area police identified last fall as the likely shooting scene in Ramiya's case.

The Rev. Benny Johnson, founder of Arkansas Stop the Violence, called the child's death a "heinous" act.

"This family is heartbroken. They are torn up. And we just want some justice," Johnson said.

City Director Ken Richardson said that while Ramiya's death is a tragedy, the same level of outrage should extend to all homicides in the city.

"We need to treat all homicides in our community as aberrations," Richardson said.

In some parts of Little Rock, violent crimes are considered the norm, he said. Many times those areas are characterized by societal problems, such as unemployment and underemployment, vacant and boarded-up houses, and disconnected youths and adults, he said.

State Rep. Fred Allen, D-Little Rock, said officials and the community should focus on getting illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals.

"If we do that," he said. "I think we can turn things around in our neighborhood."

Information for this article was contributed by Emma Pettit of Arkansas Online.

Metro on 05/25/2017

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Little Rock Police Lt. Steve McClanahan is shown in this photo.

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Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Pulaski County Sheriff

DeShaun Rushing

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Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette /Pulaski County Sheriff

Larry Jackson

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