Herred arraigned on murder charge from fatal Fayetteville shooting

Devontae Herred
Devontae Herred

FAYETTEVILLE -- A third person charged in a fatal shooting of a Fayetteville man last year was arraigned Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court.

Devontae Herred, 25, of Fayetteville, pleaded not guilty to being an accomplice to capital murder and tampering with physical evidence. He was given a Sept. 9 court date before Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay.

Herred is one of the three people accused in connection with the fatal shooting of Mario Lamont Miller during a robbery last year.

Steven Rice, 21, of Pine Bluff and Keishayla Hill, 22, of Stuttgart are both charged with being accomplices to capital murder and tampering with physical evidence. Hill and Rice were both arraigned Monday and entered not guilty pleas.

All three face either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted of accomplice to capital murder.

Fayetteville police were called to East Robinswood Lane around 8:45 p.m. Aug. 12 to investigate a reported death. A caller said he had found a dead man near a wooded area. When they arrived, police found Miller, 47, of Fayetteville, lying near the trees with a gunshot wound to the head.

Police said Miller was robbed and killed by Rice and Hill, who they say also stole Miller's 2011 Dodge Challenger.

Fayetteville police detectives, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Forces for eastern Arkansas, western Arkansas and western Tennessee, tracked down and arrested Hill and Rice in Pine Bluff and Herred in Memphis, Tenn., on June 1.

Cellphone records and social media postings played a large role in tracking down the three, according to Matt Durrett, prosecuting attorney.

Cellphone data showed one or two of the three suspects going to and from Miller's residence on the day he was killed. Cellphone data also places them in the area of the shooting around the time it took place. Social media posts also included a discussion about pawning a weapon.

Police were able to check transactions and found records of Hill pawning a gun at a Pine Bluff pawn shop. The weapon was found and DNA testing showed Miller's blood on the gun, according to Durrett.

Witnesses reported seeing the car and police obtained surveillance video from several locations showing two of the suspects in the car a few hours after the murder, according to Durrett. Social media postings later showed the vehicle at the home of a relative of one of the suspects in the Pine Bluff area.

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