PINE BLUFF -- The family of a slain University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff student is offering a $10,000 reward for information about his death.
According to Pine Bluff police, 21-year-old Keith Wilbert Jr. was gunned down about 2 a.m. Sept. 23 after three armed men burst through the door of his home at 4302 Boone St. There have been few leads and no arrests in the case, police said.
Four other residents of the home, all students at UAPB, were in the house at the time but were not injured, according to police.
A police report said the attackers were black men who had bandannas covering their faces and wore hooded sweatshirts. They demanded money from everyone inside the home, then shot Wilbert before running away in an unknown direction, the report said.
Police said they found a .40-caliber shell casing on a television stand inside the house. They released no other details about the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
As authorities continue their search for clues, those who knew and loved Wilbert continue to grieve for him.
Wilbert's father, Keith Wilbert Sr., and his uncle, Derrick Wilbert, recently addressed the Pine Bluff City Council, asking them to do more to raise awareness about the unsolved crime.
Derrick Wilbert, who is acting as the family spokesman, said keeping news about his nephew's death fresh likely will be the only way the killer is caught.
"We are working hard to keep this active," Derrick Wilbert said. "There's killers on the loose in Pine Bluff that need to be caught and caught like right now."
A fund has been set up at the True Service Credit Union on Hermitage Road in Little Rock to add to the $10,000 reward.
Wilbert, who was from the Little Rock area, was a junior at UAPB majoring in agriculture business. He was to graduate from UAPB next spring.
Tracy Dunbar, an associate professor at UAPB's Department of Agriculture who served as Wilbert's university adviser, said her heart "goes out to" Wilbert's family. She said the man was very polite and had a humorous disposition.
During UAPB's fall graduation ceremony Friday, Chancellor Laurence Alexander offered continued thoughts and prayers to Wilbert's family, saying the university had suffered a "major loss."
At a vigil held shortly after Wilbert's death, Akeem Davis -- who was Wilbert's roommate and was in the house at the time of the invasion -- called the slain man his best friend.
"We did everything together," Davis said at the vigil. "I feel like God shouldn't have taken him away from us."
Around Pine Bluff, some who have followed the case say they are nervous that no one has been arrested.
Jayne Mitchell said she recently bought a gun to protect her home, not only because of this case but "from anyone who may want to rob me. You never know who is out there waiting. ... It's a very dangerous world we live in right now."
State Desk on 12/14/2015