A woman and child were found dead in a parking lot Thursday morning in southwest Little Rock in what the Little Rock Police Department is calling a double homicide.
The identities and ages of the slain people were not immediately available, interim Police Chief Hayward Finks said at a news conference Thursday morning. Whether the woman and child were related was not clear.
At 7:45 a.m., a 911 caller reported a person down at Eagle Hill Apartments near West Baseline Road, Finks said.
Officers found the bodies of the woman and child in the lot in the southwest corner of the complex. Finks said he could not provide details about how they died or provide ages, although he said the boy was very young.
A call about such a situation can range from a person who has fallen to a natural-causes death, but Finks said investigators determined quickly that Thursday's deaths were homicides.
Finks said "evidence at the scene" indicated foul play.
The apartment complex is a gated community of more than 1,000 residential units situated around Eagle Hill golf course in southwest Little Rock.
Media representatives were not allowed into the complex Thursday, and a security guard was posted in front to ensure that only residents entered.
Representatives of the Eagle Hill Apartment Complex declined to comment Thursday.
Just after 9 a.m. and during a hard rain, investigators and crime-scene technicians could be seen working under blue tents in a southwest corner of the complex. The tents were set up in an empty parking spot and over a black Chevrolet Cavalier surrounded by yellow police tape.
It was not immediately clear if the bodies were in a vehicle or on the ground.
The slayings were not the first homicides in the Eagle Hill Apartment complex. On Feb. 7, Alexander Reed, 18, was shot and killed there in a robbery setup. Four other people were injured in the gunfire, according to previous reports.
There have been 41 homicides this year in Little Rock, still lower than 55 slayings in 2017.
The Thursday morning homicides are the ninth and 10th slayings this year within a mile of Baseline Road, making up nearly a fourth of all homicides in Little Rock this year.
The slayings within a mile of Baseline Road this year were:
[INTERACTIVE MAP: Search all killings in Little Rock, North Little Rock this year]
Devon Howard, 23, was shot multiple times on Feb. 15 in the Eagle Nest apartments, a complex just north of Eagle Hill Apartments.
Marjorie Ashcraft, 35, was stabbed to death on March 26 just before her house at 31 Redleaf Circle was set on fire.
Shirley Kirklin, 47, and her boyfriend, Timothy Williams, 58, were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide on May 10 in the 8600 block of Edwina Drive.
Evedencio Ramon Ordonez, 33, was stabbed and killed on June 9 in the 8700 block of Stanton Road.
On Aug. 14, 28-year-old Christopher Nixon was shot near Windamere Townhouses at 5901 Dreher Lane.
Levon Sales, 32, was fatally shot on Oct. 12 in the driveway of Oakridge Apartments on Mabelvale Drive.
Tobias Bushong, 36, was shot and killed near 7316 Sunflower Drive on Nov. 2.
The next day, 71-year-old Gary Parker was shot and killed in his home at 8515 Dreher Lane.
Bobby Young Jr., 29, was found dead, lying facedown in a ditch on Nov. 18 near 7417 Loretto Lane.
Metro on 12/28/2018