A 19-year-old North Little Rock man has accepted a 20-year prison sentence for shooting two men, killing one of them, two years ago just after his 17th birthday.
Sentencing papers filed Wednesday show D'Anthony Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree murder, and first-degree battery in exchange for the 20-year sentence imposed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson.
Williams has been jailed since his arrest four days after Nicholas Shane Menchue was killed and Tyresse Key-Shawn Pride was wounded in a June 2020 shooting in the 2000 block of West Short 17th Street in North Little Rock.
Authorities said Menchue, 19, of North Little Rock was shot in the back, likely as he was running away, with the bullet exiting his chest near his throat. He had been dead for some time when police found him in the street.
Surveillance video from the area shows Williams and another teen, Jordan Clark, together in the area, both with guns, pointing the weapons while running shortly before midnight the previous night.
Police knew that Pride, 22, of North Little Rock had shown up at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the neck about two hours after the video was recorded. Pride initially told police he'd been shot on West Scenic Street but refused to cooperate more, according to police.
Pride later told investigators that he and Menchue had gotten into a confrontation with two teens he knew as "DA" and Jordan, with DA pulling a revolver and firing a weapon at them, court records show.
Questioned by police, Clark said he was present when "everyone started shooting," but he refused to answer further questions about who fired first, invoking his right to consult with a lawyer.
According to police, Williams had denied being at the scene or carrying a gun until detectives showed him the video. Williams then acknowledged he'd been at the location with a gun.
Called to court to testify at a hearing for Williams last year, Clark again invoked his right to not answer questions. Prosecutors were ready to offer Clark, 17, limited immunity for his trial testimony against Williams, court filings show.
Last week, Pride, the shooting survivor, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to six felony charges: aggravated robbery, first-degree battery, committing a terrorist act, unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and two counts of theft by receiving, one of them involving a stolen gun.
The charges stem from arrests in Jacksonville, Little Rock and North Little Rock between June 2019 and July 2021.
The robbery and battery charges were from the June 2021 holdup of Eric Davon Cooper, 25, at his North Little Rock home at Hemlock Court apartments, 400 N Palm St.
According to police, Cooper was shot in the right side with his own gun while being robbed by a group of young men intent on stealing Cooper's second gun, with Pride being identified by police as one of the assailants. The robbers got away with about $500.
The terroristic act charge stems from a December 2020 shooting at the Spanish Jon Apartments, 5001 W. 65th St., in Little Rock. According to police, Kelvin Lamont Higgins Jr., 23, of Little Rock got Pride to fire shots into the bedroom of Higgins' ex-girlfriend Tiwanna Dowell, 42. According to police, Dowell's four children were in the apartment with her.
Video surveillance shows Higgins pointing at the woman's bedroom window while a man with him opens fire at the apartment. After he was arrested, Higgins identified Pride as the shooter. Higgins pleaded guilty to committing a terroristic act in August 2021 in exchange for a five-year prison sentence.
The unlawful discharge count was from a July 2020 shooting on East Broadway in North Little Rock that police said targeted 24-year-old Victor Terrance Anderson of Jacksonville. Anderson told investigators that he and Pride were admiring each other's pistols when Pride grabbed Anderson's gun and made off with the weapon.
While driving away, Pride fired a shot at Anderson, according to police. After his arrest, Pride said he'd paid Anderson $200 for the weapon and denied ever shooting at him.