Man who died had notable relatives

Records reveala troubled past

A Little Rock Police Department vehicle is shown in this file photo.
A Little Rock Police Department vehicle is shown in this file photo.

LITTLE ROCK -- The man who was fatally shot by an Arkansas State Police trooper near downtown Little Rock on Saturday was the brother of an Arkansas circuit court judge and the son of a past president of Arkansas Baptist College.

Aloysius Keaton, 58, died at a hospital Saturday night.

Shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Little Rock police learned a dead woman had been discovered in a home occupied by Keaton at 2409 Howard St., according to a news release from the department Monday. Police said preliminary evidence indicates that the woman had been killed and her body had been there only a short time.

According to an obituary in 2008, Keaton's father was Dr. William Thomas Keaton. He served as the 11th president of Arkansas Baptist College from 1985 to 2001, according to the college's website.

Aloysius Keaton's brother, Judge Edwin Keaton, also listed among Dr. Keaton's surviving family members in the obituary, serves in the 13th Judicial Circuit, which covers six counties in southern Arkansas.

Judge Keaton did not respond to calls requesting comment Sunday and Monday.

Police said Aloysius Keaton was wanted in the suspected carjacking of a taxi when he abandoned the vehicle and encountered an Arkansas Highway Police officer, who attempted to arrest him. Keaton stabbed the officer with a weapon, according to police.

A state trooper, identified by state police on Monday as Sgt. Marcus Daniels, arrived at a gas station near Interstate 30 and Roosevelt Road and attempted to subdue Keaton using a Taser.

Daniels shot him when the Taser failed to stop Keaton, who continued to advance toward the officer with the weapon, according to the police.

The Highway Police officer suffered wounds that were not considered life-threatening, according to state police. Police have not described the weapon Keaton allegedly used to stab the officer.

Low-quality surveillance footage from the Exxon station where the incident occurred shows Daniels fire at Keaton. The footage was released on Facebook by the activist group Little Rock Carbon.

In the video, Keaton can be seen running toward the gas station from the direction of the highway as he is pursued by a man who quickly exits a police vehicle and chases Keaton on foot. Keaton stops and advances toward the man, and they appear to grapple briefly as Keaton closes in on him, before Keaton falls to the ground.

Another approaching officer, apparently Daniels, extends his hand toward Keaton, presumably to deploy the Taser, but Keaton gets to his feet and rushes toward him.

Moments later, Keaton falls to the ground as he is shot, struggles to get up again, then stops moving. The entire incident takes place in approximately one minute.

State police said Keaton was taken to a hospital, where he died later that night.

While his father was president of Arkansas Baptist College, Keaton was arrested during a 1994 confrontation with police on the campus.

Keaton was accused of pointing a semi-automatic pistol at a Little Rock police officer who had ordered him to get on the ground after Keaton and another individual, armed with weapons, were seen yelling at others, the Democrat-Gazette reported at the time.

The elder Keaton said he planned to enter his son into a drug and alcohol treatment center in Little Rock, which he said his son had attended in the past for alcoholism, according to the report in the Democrat-Gazette.

Court records show Keaton ultimately pleaded no contest to two charges of aggravated assault and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

"Whenever he gets a drink of beer, he just loses his mind, and that's what happened last night," the then-college president reportedly said before his son's arraignment.

More recently, Keaton pleaded no contest in Little Rock District Court to charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and domestic battery related to his daughter, now 27, after he was arrested at Baptist Health in June 2016. He was fined $185 and received a 30-day suspended jail sentence, with the charges eventually dismissed, per his plea agreement, after Keaton was found not to have violated the law for one year.

A news conference scheduled for Monday evening with members of Keaton's family was postponed, said Zaria McClinton, a member of Little Rock Carbon.

Daniels remains on paid administrative leave amid a use-of-force investigation into the shooting, according to State Police.

Information for this article was contributed by John Lynch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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