A man jailed earlier this year in a 2018 killing in Little Rock faces additional charges tied to a second homicide in the city, authorities said.
The Little Rock Police Department said Monday that warrants were served charging Darrius Holmes, 25, with capital murder in the killing of 39-year-old Joshua Backus.
Holmes has been in the Pulaski County jail since April 4, when he was arrested on first-degree murder charges in the death of 32-year-old Levon Sales Jr., who was shot Oct. 12, 2018, in the driveway of Oakridge Apartments. Holmes also faces a felony charge of possession of a firearm by certain persons in the Sales case.
"The two homicides are separate incidents to my knowledge," police spokesman Eric Barnes said Monday.
On the night of April 5, 2018, officers were called to the parking lot of an auto detail shop in the 5300 block of Mabelvale Pike in a shooting, according to a police report.
Backus was lying unresponsive in the lot with multiple gunshot wounds, police said. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Holmes was served warrants Monday charging him with capital murder and possession of firearms by a certain person related to Backus' death, police said.
"He is the only suspect listed in this case," Barnes said.
A motive for the shooting and details surrounding it had not been released Monday afternoon, Barnes said.
"We expect to have more details [today]," he said.
Holmes hasn't been allowed to carry firearms since his first felony conviction at age 16 of robbery, according to court documents. Holmes negotiated a second guilty plea in 2016 to robbery and second-degree battery charges stemming from a September 2013 incident.
Holmes was the third person arrested in Sales' death. Officers arrested Kenneth Wilson, 18, on a charge of first-degree murder after he surrendered Nov. 1 and Jacquelynn Jones, 23, on a charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution in December.
Sales was already dead when Little Rock police arrived just after 1:30 a.m. at Oakridge Apartments. Neighbors said Sales' body had lain on the black-top pavement near the complex's entry for hours.
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After his arrest, Wilson told investigators he'd only intended to scare Sales with a handgun when he pulled up to the apartment, according to an arrest report. Sales had slapped Wilson in a video that was later posted to social media, the teenager told police.
Instead, Wilson said, Sales grabbed the gun in his hand and a second person in the vehicle shot Sales, the report said.
"I can't confirm if [Holmes] was in the car or not at this time," Barnes said Monday.
Holmes pleaded innocent to the murder of Sales and said he was in Helena-West Helena at the time of the shooting, according to court documents.
Metro on 07/16/2019