PINE BLUFF -- Two people have been arrested in the fatal shooting of a pawnshop owner, police said Tuesday.
Pine Bluff Police Department Chief Kelvin Sergeant said during a news conference Tuesday that Daryl Strickland and Rodney Henry, both 21 and of Camden, were arrested that morning in Camden in the Nov. 12 killing of Brandon McHan, owner of Wise Buck Pawn Shop in Pine Bluff.
"It's just a good day for us," Sergeant said. "This is a tragedy that happened within our community."
Strickland and Henry were listed as prisoners in the Jefferson County jail early Tuesday afternoon. They were being held without bail on charges of capital murder, criminal attempt and aggravated robbery, according to a jail roster on the Jefferson County sheriff's office website.
Sergeant said a "huge break" came in the past two days after officers searched a residence and found physical evidence that was sent to the state Crime Laboratory and led to identification of the suspects. A police spokesman declined to identify what the evidence was.
Brandon McHan's twin brother, Jeff McHan, thanked authorities during the news conference for the work they did to make arrests.
"My family will be able to sleep better tonight knowing that these animals are where they're supposed to be," Jeff McHan said.
"My twin brother did not deserve anything like this," he continued. "He was just trying to help this town out."
Brandon McHan, 34, was hit in an exchange of gunfire with at least one of two assailants who entered the store at 2408 S. Camden Road after 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 12.
Police previously said that they believe the two were trying to rob the business. After an initial round of shooting, the two men briefly retreated and Brandon McHan's friend, who was in the store, rendered aid to him, said officer Richard Wegner, a Pine Bluff police spokesman.
When the assailants returned less than two minutes later, the friend, who regularly sat with the owner in the store, used Brandon McHan's gun to exchange more gunfire with them, authorities said. He was hit in the chin, abdomen and hand.
Both shooting victims were taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center. Brandon McHan died there, and his injured friend was transferred to a Little Rock hospital. Jeff McHan said Tuesday that the friend is out of the hospital but is still using a feeding tube and faces a long road to recovery.
"He's got a lot of mending to do," Jeff McHan said. "All of our hearts have got a lot of mending to do."
Jeff McHan described his brother as an entrepreneur who had worked in the pawnshop business since he was 17. He said his brother decided to start his own business after his boss at another pawnshop shut down his shop.
"He got his building, and I helped him get it ready," Jeff McHan said. "We painted and fixed it up. He put everything he had into that shop."
Jeff McHan said the family plans to move everything out of the shop and into a new space.
"My brother put everything he had into that pawnshop, and we do not want to let that dream die," he said.
Asked if he had anything he wanted to say to the men arrested in his brother's death, Jeff McHan didn't mince words.
"I hope you spend eternity in hell," he said. "The punishment in life you're going to get is not good enough. I hope you burn in hell while my brother sits among angels. That's what I hope for."
State Desk on 12/05/2018