Brelyn Deandre London, 25, of Little Rock -- the focus of a manhunt in a murder case -- is no stranger to violence, police reports and court records show.
His roommate was shot to death two years ago during a robbery, and London witnessed a shootout six years ago that killed a man.
Little Rock police said Wednesday that London is being charged with first-degree murder in the death of Vence Edward Lee Jr., 27, of Little Rock, who died Sunday about two weeks after he was shot.
Investigators learned that Lee, formerly of Helena-West Helena, had been shot only after someone driving a white Kia sport utility vehicle dropped him off at the CHI St. Vincent Infirmary emergency room July 20. Detectives were able to determine that the shooting occurred in the 6800 block of Colonel Glenn Road, which is near West 36th Street.
Police announced Wednesday that a manhunt was underway for London on the first-degree murder charge.
Court records show that London has a daughter with 24-year-old Lisa Nichole Thomas of Ohio, who received a traffic ticket July 25 in Little Rock.
According to police, London was the roommate of Devon Howard, 23, who was shot to death in a February 2018 armed robbery at the men's residence in the Eagle's Nest apartments at 5 Falcon Court in Little Rock.
Witnesses told police that the night Howard was killed, he answered a knock on the apartment door, and two men forced their way inside. Witnesses said they heard a demand for money and later a gunshot.
In January, authorities said Jacovan Bush, 31, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in Howard's slaying. Court records show that a cellphone belonging to London's sister was stolen when Howard was killed. Bush was extradited back to Arkansas in May. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence in his criminal case.
In June 2014, London was one of three men in a car with 21-year-old Laron Rainelle Ware Jr. of Little Rock. Ware was fatally wounded after exchanging gunfire with another man in the parking lot of the Spanish Willows apartments at 7515 Geyer Springs Road, according to police reports.
Police arrested a suspect, who was wounded in the chest, but all charges were dropped, court records show.
London has been on probation since March 2014 when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor fleeing charge. The charge stemmed from an October 2013 arrest when he was caught driving a car that had been reported stolen by another sister.
He received a year of probation but that time was extended twice after he violated his probation conditions, first for failing to report to his probation officer, and then for not paying his fines and testing positive for marijuana, court records show.
London's probation was extended another five years in October 2015 when he pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession, fleeing, criminal mischief and theft by receiving that arose from a January 2015 arrest.
Court files show that police had tried to pull him over for driving a car with fictitious tags, but he refused to stop, leading to a police chase that ended when London's vehicle crashed into another vehicle. Police said he had a stolen pistol with him and 145 alprazolam pills.
His probation was extended to the year 2023 in May 2017 after he tested positive for marijuana and heroin before he stopped reporting to his probation officer and was arrested for drunken driving, court records show.
London received a yearlong extension of his probation sentence in March 2018 for failing to report to his probation officer, and not paying his fines and restitution.
Lee was a parolee with a history of domestic violence, court records show. In February, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic battering for assaulting his girlfriend Raneisha Young in Little Rock last November.
In June 2015, Lee was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree domestic battering, reduced from first-degree, and second-degree battery, reduced from first-degree, for shooting up his ex-girlfriend's car on Kanis Road in Little Rock in June 2011.
The gunfire caused the vehicle to crash, injuring the woman, Niya Allen, 27; her sister, Charmonique Allen, 28; and a third passenger Exzabrian Wright, 32, court records show.
In a statement to police, Lee said Niya Allen had been the aggressor and had been following him that day while he was driving. He said he fired one shot at her car because of the way she had been yelling at him and driving aggressively.
He was approved for parole in January 2017, parole records show.