Drug Deal to Robbery to Homicide
According to a law enforcement affidavit made public on Tuesday, a drug deal arranged on Snapchat turned into a robbery on August 11, 2020, that resulted in the death of student Joshua Keshun Smith, 21, of Southern Arkansas University, and the injury of Lucas Sharp.
Circuit Court Judge David Talley had ordered the sealing of the SAU Police Department Detective Sgt. Bret McMahen's affidavit as well as other case-related documents. The documents were made public after a newspaper and the Arkansas Press Association successfully challenged the seal order.
The homicide that occurred just hours before the start of the fall semester is covered in a seven-page affidavit that includes testimony and evidence gathered by SAU Police, the Magnolia Police Department, and an Arkansas State Police investigator.
Charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery are non-student Quincy "Q" Isaiah Lewis, 20, of Little Rock, and SAU students Odies "Odie" Wilson IV, 21, of North Little Rock, Le'Kamerian "Kam" Tolbert, 21, of Little Rock, and Shivonn "Shakey" Robinson, 20, of Vacherie, LA. Half-brothers Lewis and Tolbert are related.
The affidavit does not name the shooter but does identify marijuana as the catalyst for the meeting of two groups of men early on that Tuesday morning in the sizable parking lot to the west of Reynolds Campus and Community Center.
To gather information for the affidavit Talley received, McMahen and other investigators questioned suspects, victims, and other witnesses. Closed-circuit video cameras were also used by law enforcement in the parking lot to record the shooting from various perspectives.
Before the shooting, Smith, the seller, was allegedly corresponding with the buyer on Snapchat in the Reynolds parking lot.
This unidentified buyer once said to Smith, "I'm over here, see my waving," while standing in the parking lot's northernmost corner.
Alex Copeland, one of the two other people in the car with Smith, said that the buyer got into the left rear passenger seat of the vehicle after Smith had driven there to meet them, inspected the marijuana for sale, and said to Smith, "I didn't bring my money because I was afraid you were going to rip me off, I just have to go get it."
At this point, the buyer exited the vehicle, and a second person dashed up to the driver's window and began firing, hitting Smith and the passenger in the front seat, Sharp. Smith accelerated backward while putting the car in reverse, hitting a light pole in the middle of the parking lot.
Copeland claimed in the affidavit that he jumped out of the car and ran in the direction of the Brinson Art Building after it had stopped. Copeland claimed that after crossing the street, he turned around and noticed the hurt Sharp approaching from behind. He claimed to have realized Sharp had been shot, and Smith was in critical condition after being shot.
Copeland recalled making calls to friends and roommates to inform them of the shooting and his suspicion that Smith may have been dead
At the time of the shooting, there were two groups of witnesses in the parking lot. Although they are mentioned in the affidavit, magnoliareporter.com has decided not to name them in this article. The suspects were described by the witnesses as being black men dressed in all black.
West of the shooting scene, one pair of witnesses was parked. They were parked next to a sizable pick-up truck, which obscured their view of the victim's vehicle. Despite this, they could make out two people hiding next to a car behind them, to the north, in a line of cars. They dismissed it, figuring the people were just playing pranks on their friends.
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