Police beat

Police: Little Rock woman shot son during argument over gun purchase

Shay Stevens, 46, of Little Rock
Shay Stevens, 46, of Little Rock

A Little Rock woman who reportedly shot her son Saturday told police she was fighting with the 18-year-old because he wanted to buy a gun.

Officers responded just after 2 p.m. Saturday to Shay Stevens' 911 call, in which she told dispatchers she had shot her son, according to a police report.

Little Rock police officers said when they arrived on the scene on Leslie Circle, Shay Stevens was still holding a handgun, and she again told them she had shot her son during an argument. Stevens said she and her son, Shayne Stevens, were arguing because he wanted to buy a firearm.

Shayne Stevens had a gunshot wound in his lower left torso and was transported to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences emergency room.

Officers arrested Shay Stevens, 46, on a charge of first-degree domestic battery and transported her to the Pulaski County jail, where she remained Sunday with no bail set.

Man charged with assault of neighbor

A Little Rock man reportedly tried to run over a neighbor Sunday during an argument, according to police reports.

Don Laron Lankford, 23, was arguing with his neighbor in the 800 block of South Rodney Parham Drive when Lankford attempted to strike the man with his vehicle, according to police documents. Officers reported seeing tire tracks through a rock bed and disturbed earth around the area.

Officers arrested Lankford on a felony charge of aggravated assault and transported him to the Pulaski County jail, where he remained as of Sunday evening with no bail set.

December beating suspect arrested

A Jacksonville man who reportedly broke into his ex-girlfriend's vehicle, drove her to his residence and then beat her with a baseball bat in December was arrested last week, police said.

On Dec. 19, 2017, a police report says Walter Ratliff, 41, forced his way into his ex-girlfriend's vehicle while she was stopped at McDonald's and took her to his residence on West 45th Street, where the ex-girlfriend said he choked her multiple times, struck her repeatedly with a baseball bat and told her he was going to kill her.

The woman told police she endured the violence and then, when Ratliff fell asleep in the evening, she took her car key, drove away and called 911. Officers said the woman "had bruising from head to toe" and had difficulty breathing.

Officers arrested Ratliff Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault and second-degree domestic battery. Ratliff was in the Pulaski County jail in lieu of $100,000 bond as of Sunday evening.

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Metro on 07/23/2018

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