Pine Bluff police have arrested a suspect in connection with a June 7 shooting that claimed the life of a 14-year-old girl.
Police Lt. David DeFoor announced just after 11 p.m. Monday that Vernon McCraney, 19, was arrested on suspicion of killing the girl at the intersection of West 23rd Avenue and South Maple Street. The girl was found shot multiple times in a vehicle parked between 23rd and 24th avenues and pronounced dead at the scene.
Police declined to identify the victim because she was a minor, but funeral employees identified her as Janija McGown. Her funeral was held Saturday at New Community Church in Pine Bluff, followed by her burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens.
McCraney was booked shortly before 11:10 p.m. Friday into the Jefferson County jail on charges of aggravated assault, capital murder and discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. He will likely appear in Jefferson County District Court on Tuesday morning.
McCraney was released from the jail last Nov. 28, more than two months after he was arrested on suspicion of killing Horace Harrington, 69, in the carport of Harrington’s residence on Lilac Street. It was reported that prosecutors determined they did not have a strong enough case against McCraney.
Police are also looking for Keundre Parker, 16, in connection to McGown’s death and have asked the public for help in locating him. Police say Parker is known to frequent the areas of Howard Drive and 31st Avenue and Fir Street.
Anyone with knowledge of Parker’s whereabouts is asked to call the Pine Bluff Police detective office at (870) 730-2090 or (870) 541-5300.
McGown’s death was the fourth homicide out of six during a six-day stretch, June 5-10, and one of four that happened within a 1.3-mile radius in the Hazel Street area. Police have not said whether there’s a connection among those shootings that happened within proximity.