Shooting kills driver, leaves passenger hurt

Woman’s death is 4th PB slaying in ’19

PINE BLUFF -- A woman is dead and a man is in the hospital after a shooting Tuesday night on Camden Road near the Interstate 530 bypass.

Amanda Lee, 22, of Pine Bluff and 26-year-old David D. Smith, also of Pine Bluff, were sitting in a car between a convenience store and a fast-food restaurant on South Camden Road about 9:30 p.m. when they were shot by an unknown assailant using a rifle, Pine Bluff police said.

Both were transported to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, where Lee died a short time later. Smith was taken to a Little Rock hospital where he was in stable condition Wednesday, according to detective Randy Wegner, a spokesman for the Police Department.

Officer Kentrell Wilson wrote in a report that when he arrived at the scene, several officers and civilians already had surrounded a red Toyota Corolla driven by Lee. The car was resting against one of the support pillars of the I-530 overpass, a short distance from the shooting scene, the report said.

"According to witnesses, it appeared that Ms. Lee was incapacitated by the gunfire and the car didn't appear to have been driven," Wegner said. "It appeared to be slowly rolling under its own power."

Officer Jalyndria Murry said in another report that she and two other officers were at the scene of a disturbance call about 3 miles away when they heard about 20 gunshots coming from the direction of South Camden Road.

Murry and another officer headed toward the scene, where several spent shell casings were found in the driveway of a fast-food restaurant on South Camden Road.

Lee's death is the fourth homicide reported in Pine Bluff this year.

Marquis Williams, 28, of Pine Bluff, was shot and killed Jan. 10 at 3500 W. 10th Avenue near Juniper Street, just behind the Jefferson County Road Department.

Tony White, 18, of Pine Bluff was found Jan. 19 suffering from gunshot wounds at 2402 McConnell Circle, just off Dollarway Road. He was taken to Jefferson County Regional Hospital where he died a short time later.

Celestine Holder, 53, of Pine Bluff was found shot to death Jan. 23 in the middle of the street near 24th Avenue and Linden Street.

No suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made in the four cases.

The city had reported only one homicide by Feb. 27 last year, police said. Pine Bluff reported 19 homicides for all of 2018.

State Desk on 02/28/2019

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