A 23-year-old man was arrested on first-degree murder charges Friday, a day after a Little Rock teenager was shot multiple times in central Little Rock, a police spokesman said.
Little Rock police arrested Anthony Lanelle Thomas Jr. in the Thursday death of Justin Bell, 18, police spokesman officer Eric Barnes said.
Just after midnight Thursday morning, a 911 caller told dispatchers someone had been shot in the area of West 11th and Lewis streets, Barnes said. The department's ShotSpotter, a gunshot-detection sensor, also detected gunshots in the area.
Officers found Bell lying in the street, having been shot multiple times, Barnes said. Emergency personnel took Bell to UAMS Medical Center, where he later died.
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Officers said witnesses picked Thomas as the shooter twice in photo lineups, an arrest report said. Thomas surrendered Friday and, after investigators read him his Miranda rights, told police he'd shot Bell in self-defense, the report said.
No evidence or statements from witnesses supported a self-defense claim, investigators wrote in the arrest report.
Thomas has been arrested four times in 2019 on charges of theft by receiving, DWI, driving on a suspended license and possession of an instrument of crime, court documents show.
Of Thomas's 15 run-ins with the law since 2013, he has never been charged with a violent offense. The vast majority of his arrests related to misdemeanor traffic offenses.
Thomas was in the Pulaski County jail as of Friday evening without bond.
Metro on 07/13/2019