Pulaski County Circuit Judge Cathi Compton has ordered the arrest of a 35-year-old Little Rock man who survived a shootout that left an 18-year-old man dead in front of a Dollar General store earlier this month.
Court filings show that Marraell McKinney told police that he shot the younger man, a stranger, after Azhyrion Sanchez Johnson had shot him and clubbed him with a pistol during a drug deal.
Police found Johnson dead in the passenger seat of McKinney's GMC Yukon in front of the store. McKinney had directed investigators to the site from the hospital where he was being treated for a gunshot wound in the chest, according to police reports.
McKinney was arrested nine days later when he got out of the hospital on a firearms charge after police found guns in the vehicle, but he was released on his own recognizance.
McKinney has not been charged with Johnson's death. Police will forward the results of the homicide investigation to prosecutors who will decide whether McKinney should face more charges.
Compton ordered McKinney to be taken into custody at the request of prosecutors, who reported that the gun charge violates the conditions of his release ahead of trial on a marijuana-trafficking charge stemming from McKinney's August arrest, court filings show.
According to the arrest petition by deputy prosecutor Justin Harper, which describes the preliminary findings of the investigation into Johnson's death by detective Rick Harmon, police were called to the Bradford Estates apartments, 6310 Colonel Glenn Road, about 10 on the night of the shooting. The anonymous caller said Johnson was his brother and had been shot inside a gray Yukon that had just left the apartments. Officers searched the area but found nothing.
About 18 minutes later, the wounded McKinney showed up at the hospital and spoke briefly to police. McKinney said he'd been flagged down at the Exxon at 6920 Colonel Glenn Road by a stranger who asked him for a ride to get something to eat.
McKinney said the stranger tried to rob him, clubbing him with a pistol and shooting him before McKinney was able to get a gun -- a weapon that belongs to his brother -- and shoot the man, according to the detective's report. McKinney said he left his vehicle at the Dollar General at 7710 Colonel Glenn Road, where police found McKinney's SUV with Johnson dead in the passenger seat from a head wound.
There was a Smith & Wesson .380-caliber pistol on the floorboard in front of Johnson and a .40-caliber Glock was on the center floorboard with a "stovepipe" malfunction, according to the report. A stovepipe is when the shell casing is not fully expelled when the gun is fired, and the casing gets caught by the slide, jamming the ejection port.
Nine days after the shooting, McKinney, supervised by attorney Jeff Wankum, met with investigators to answer questions. According to Harmon's report, McKinney said he had been called to the apartments by a stranger who wanted to buy drugs. McKinney said the man got into his vehicle, told McKinney that he'd forgotten his money and got back out, saying he would be right back.
The man returned and got back into the vehicle as someone threw a brick and hit the side of the Yukon, McKinney said. At that same moment, the stranger told him "this is not a game," shot him and then hit him with the gun," McKinney told police.
McKinney said his brother had left a gun in the driver's door and he grabbed it and shot his attacker. There were other people in the parking lot so he drove to the Dollar General where he got a friend to take him to the hospital, according to the report.
McKinney's pending marijuana charges stem from an Aug. 11 traffic stop in the 2600 block of Broadway where police found marijuana, Xanax and measuring scales. McKinney, who has no felony convictions, faces up to 18 years on the charges if convicted.
Johnson also was facing charges. He had been arrested in Maumelle in November, two days after Thanksgiving, with police reporting he had led officers on a car chase.
Johnson had been charged with driving while intoxicated, theft by receiving and fleeing. According to a report, a stolen credit card was found with Johnson when he was arrested.