Arkansas State Police are aiding in the third suspicious death investigation in less than a week in a small south-Arkansas city, police spokesmen said.
A 911 caller reported a deceased person at 7:38 a.m. in the 600 block of Jeanette Street, a media release from the Magnolia Police Department said. The release said the person — who has not yet been identified — was found in a bedroom of the home. Magnolia investigators are considering the death to be a homicide, the release said.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler said troopers with the criminal investigation division drove to Magnolia on Friday morning at the request of the local authorities to investigate the death. Sadler said state police will wait for the state Crime Lab to determine the manner and cause of death.
The suspicious death follows two homicides and an officer-involved shooting this week in a town with fewer than 12,000 residents.
Magnolia resident Jarious Shaw died after being shot in the chest on Norma Street on Monday morning and Damarras Akheen "Squirt" Henderson, a 24-year-old from El Dorado, was shot and killed around 6:30 p.m. the same day at Magnuson Hotel on East Main Street.
An unidentified man who was a suspect in Henderson's death was fatally shot by a Columbia County sheriff's deputy Tuesday night, according to previous reports. State police are also investigating the suspect's death, and the deputy is on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.