Formal charges have been filed against two teens accused in the slaying of a Pine Bluff man who was found shot to death inside an apartment in March.
According to court records, Ke'untae Shelton, 18, of Pine Bluff and Karizma Fisher, 18, of Monticello were charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the March 12 death of Leoncio Flores.
On March 12, officers were called to an apartment complex at 2402 McConnell Circle about 1:30 a.m. in response to a report of a shooting, according to an incident report from the Pine Bluff Police Department. Upon their arrival, officers found Flores' body lying inside the doorway of Apartment 5. Flores, 21, had been shot once in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene by Jefferson County Coroner Chad Kelley.
According to a probable cause affidavit, witnesses told police that they had seen four black males run out of the apartment and leave in a silver-colored Ford Mustang. A search of Flores' cellphone turned up a video that was recorded about the time of the slaying with audio of a conversation between a woman, later identified as Fisher, and Flores, according to the affidavit.
About 13 minutes into the video, according to the affidavit, the audio captures the sound of several males entering the apartment and demanding items from Flores. Several slaps can be heard and then a single gunshot, followed by someone yelling" and sounds of people fleeing the apartment.
On May 18, shortly before 5 p.m., the affidavit said, Fisher was located at a residence on Lilac Street in Pine Bluff and was taken into custody.
About the same time, according to an update to the incident report, police stopped a dark-gray Ford Mustang at West 23rd Avenue and South Hickory Street in Pine Bluff. The report said Shelton was identified as the driver and was arrested at the scene. Two unidentified males who were passengers were released.
According to the affidavit, Fisher told police that Flores, who she said appeared to be drunk, had picked her up at her home in Monticello on March 12 and taken her to his apartment on McConnell Circle. Once there, she said she called her cousin, who was not identified in the affidavit, to come and get her.
Instead, she told police, several black males showed up a short time later in a silver Mustang and went inside Flores' apartment, the affidavit said. Fisher told police that the males emerged from the apartment a short time later and left the area, dropping her off in the Howard Drive area, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Shelton told police that Fisher had texted a friend of his to say that Flores "had been beating and raping her" and asked the friend to go get her and to kill Flores. He told police, the affidavit said, that he and three other men went to the apartment intending to rob Flores but one of the men shot Flores in the head and they all fled.
A supplemental report filed by Pine Bluff police detective Christopher Wieland made no mention of any other suspects.
"During the course of the investigation [it] was found that Ke'untae Shelton and Karizma Fisher are two suspects in this case. Both were arrested and booked into [the Jefferson County jail] for Capital Murder and Aggravated Robbery" was the only notation made in the supplemental report other than a reference to the detective case file for further information.
"To my knowledge they're thinking that [Shelton] was the shooter," said DeAunuana Roberts, Pine Bluff police public information officer.
Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter said he could not comment on any of the facts of the case and could address only procedural matters. Hunter did say that, if convicted, Fisher and Shelton would face a narrow range of sentencing options.
"The penalties for capital murder, there's only two," Hunter said. "That's life without parole and the other one is the death penalty, and we haven't made a decision yet on whether to seek the death penalty."
State Desk on 05/22/2020