Labeled a flight risk by Pulaski County prosecutors, a capital-murder suspect and fugitive sex offender arrested in Texas was ordered Thursday to be jailed until his trial over accusations he fatally shot a man in the back at a Little Rock hotel.
Circuit Judge Karen Whatley denied a request for bail by Cedric Lamont Qualls, 29, of Stuttgart, who is charged in the July 2021 slaying of 27-year-old Keyon Cortez Dukes of Little Rock at the Little Rock Inn & Suites, 7501 Interstate 30.
Qualls’ attorney, Lott Rolfe, told the judge he’s still reviewing evidence but that Qualls might have a self-defense claim, stating Dukes had been trying to rob his client that night. Qualls’ 6 ½-month pregnant wife, Fashion Sharaye Arnold of Conway, requested bail of $75,000 to $100,000 for her husband of two years, saying he would live with her and get a job if he’s able to get out of jail.
Immediately identified as a suspect by police, Qualls was the subject of a 10-month manhunt by authorities that ended in April with his arrest in Houston. He was returned to Little Rock in May.
Qualls is “as big a flight risk as I’ve ever seen,” deputy prosecutor Scott Duncan told the judge in opposing Qualls’ release from jail.
“The defendant walked away, retrieved a gun, went back and shot a man in the back,” Duncan said, stating that the time Qualls spent getting a gun, loading it then going to confront Dukes met the definition of a “premeditated and deliberate” capital murder. Prosecutors will seek a life sentence at his March trial.
Little Rock Detective Roy Williams testified that Dukes was killed by a gunshot to his right lower back that went through his aorta. He said the fatal shooting was witnessed by a woman who called 911 to get help for Dukes and knew Qualls only as “Prosper.” The woman told police the men had been fist-fighting in the third-floor hallway of the hotel south of the interstate and west of Scott Hamilton Drive, the detective said.
He told the judge the fighting was recorded on the hotel’s video surveillance cameras, but the shooting occurred in the stairwell beyond the cameras’ reach.
Williams testified the cameras further show a shirtless Qualls leave the hotel and go to a car in the parking lot that was occupied by a woman. Qualls can be seen reaching into the vehicle for several seconds before retrieving an object. He next can be seen kneeling down and loading a gun before walking back into the hotel, the detective said, describing the video for the judge.
The camera shows a group of people by the stairwell suddenly break into a run, which Williams testified was the moment that a gun was fired. Dukes was found in a pickup outside the hotel.
A 16-year-old boy, Brian Wesley Ratliff of North Little Rock, arrested in the case and initially charged as an adult, was thought to have been involved with the slaying but has since been charged in juvenile court with being a minor in possession of a firearm, the prosecutor said.
Ratliff was with Qualls in fighting Dukes and left the hotel with Qualls, according to the arrest affidavit. Ratliff later told police that Dukes, claiming to have a gun, had come into Qualls’ hotel room and tried to rob them.
Ratliff said he pulled his .22 caliber pistol and pointed it at Dukes, which led to a fight. Ratliff said Dukes was trying to take his pistol during the struggle in the stairwell and had bitten him twice on the back, showing detectives the bite marks on his right upper shoulder, the affidavit states.
Ratliff further stated he heard the gunshot and realized Dukes had been shot but did not see who shot him, according to the affidavit.
Qualls is awaiting trial on methamphetamine and prescription-drug trafficking charges stemming from an October 2019 arrest at his then-Little Rock residence, 2408 Summit, by parole officers.
A warrant on a failure to register as a sex offender charge was issued along with his capital-murder warrant in July 2021, with authorities reporting that Qualls has not registered his home address since May 2021.
Court records show Qualls’ criminal history begins in November 2012 when he was arrested in Little Rock with stolen scratch-off lottery tickets that he had been trying to cash. The tickets had been stolen from a Stuttgart store.
He briefly escaped police, fleeing in handcuffs, but was chased down and arrested.
He was placed on three years’ probation in February 2013 after pleading to escape, lottery fraud and theft by receiving. Qualls’ probation was extended for three years in June 2015 after he failed to report to his probation officer and pay his fines and fees.
He subsequently pleaded guilty in Arkansas County in October 2018 to fourth-degree sexual assault involving an underage girl in 2015, plus a charge of delivery of marijuana from 2016 in exchange for an 18-month prison sentence.