A North Little Rock man killed earlier this month during an abduction was trying to protect his wife and stepdaughter from two men who held them at gunpoint, court documents released Thursday said.
An affidavit for a warrant of arrest for Joe Eugene Vincent, 54, who was arrested Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated residential burglary, said Vincent and a second man went to a trailer home to find Susan Smith.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting and abduction on June 15 at 3507 E. Washington Ave. in the Keller Mobile Home Park, where James Harold Griffin had been fatally shot in front of his wife and stepdaughter.
Griffin's wife, Tammy Smith, told police that two men approached Griffin on his lawn and asked if he was selling the white Ford Expedition parked in his driveway, the affidavit said. Griffin told the men the car did not belong to him and walked back into the residence.
The two men followed Griffin, forced their way into the home and made the three people inside -- Griffin, Tammy Smith and Susan Smith -- lie on the floor at gunpoint, the affidavit said. Griffin grabbed a kitchen knife and demanded that the two men leave his home.
The man with the gun pulled the trigger, shooting Griffin in his abdomen, investigators said. The other intruder grabbed Susan Smith by her hair, dragged her from the house, put her in a vehicle and drove away.
Susan Smith, who later fled from her captors' truck and was found by police at 5:30 a.m. on June 16, said the two men put her in the bed of a white Ford F150 and drove to Sweet Home, where they told her they intended to kill her.
Susan Smith told police she had known one of the men since October 2018, though she knew him only by the name "Rico." A week before the abduction, Susan Smith said she set up a drug deal for Rico to sell $1,500 worth of "ice" to a man who paid her in counterfeit money, the affidavit said.
Susan Smith told investigators she went into hiding because she feared what Rico would do to her.
Her captors paid one of her friends $200 to tell them where she was hiding, the affidavit said. Susan Smith said the friend had been at her parents' house that day before the two men arrived.
In Sweet Home, Susan Smith said the two men drove her to a wooded area, where Rico left her in the care of the second suspect and did not return. After several hours, Susan Smith said she persuaded the second suspect not to kill her, and he drove her to 905 Welch St. The two reportedly sat in the truck and drank sodas for several hours.
Detectives notified local media of the shooting and abduction less than two hours after Susan Smith was taken. Susan Smith said as she and the second suspect sat in a truck in Little Rock, the man learned that Griffin had died.
After news of Griffin's death reached the suspect, the man told Susan Smith he was leaving to get another vehicle, got out of the truck and did not return, Smith told investigators. Susan Smith got out of the car, ran to a hotel nearby and called her mother, who called 911, according to reports. Little Rock police took Susan Smith to the North Little Rock Police Department for questioning and seized the truck as evidence.
Susan Smith told police that the second suspect was 54 years old and had recently purchased the truck. The truck was sold to Joe Vincent, investigators found, and the home where the truck was parked was next door to Vincent's residence, according to reports.
Police have not publicly identified the man whom Susan Smith called "Rico."
Vincent was being held without bail in the Pulaski County jail as of Thursday evening.
Metro on 06/28/2019