A second suspect wanted in a shooting that left two people dead April 6 in West Memphis surrendered to the city's mayor Sunday.
Reginald Smith, 23, surrendered to West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon and law enforcement officials about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a statement by city police. His surrender came a day after suspect Raheem Stackhouse, also 23, surrendered to police.
The identities of the two victims have not yet been released.
Smith and Stackhouse were being held Tuesday in the Crittenden County jail and face first-degree murder charges, according to an online jail roster. Smith's bail is set at $500,000, and Stackhouse's bail was set at $750,000.
McClendon said he received a call from Smith's family and met with Smith before escorting him to authorities. The mayor said he walked and prayed with Smith.
In a video released less than an hour after Smith's surrender, McClendon pleaded for an end to violence in the city. He called for peace in the community in the video posted on Facebook Live, and urged viewers to consider their families and those of others before they act.
"One decision that we make in five or six seconds can ruin our lives," he said. "And when our lives are ruined, our children suffer because we are not there showing godliness."
McClendon, who took office Jan. 1, said in the video that the recent spate of violence was exhausting and had left his heart heavy. He added that he was "tired of death."
According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting database, West Memphis began experiencing a sharp uptick in homicides in 2014. That reached its peak in 2016, when 14 people were killed. The number dropped to seven homicides in 2017. The database does not provide statistics for 2018.
At least six people have died this year from shootings in West Memphis, according to reports by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Two of those died in a police shooting in January. Four people, including a teen, were killed over the course of a week earlier this month.
The mayor wiped tears from his face at one point in the video, saying "I know a mayor ain't supposed to cry, but I ain't that kind of mayor."
The mayor said he didn't see anything worth dying for in West Memphis.
"I'm tired of our young men and women's blood fertilizing our city soil," McClendon said. "And it's been watered by our mothers' and fathers' tears."
State Desk on 04/17/2019