Citing a lack of evidence, prosecutors on Monday dropped capital murder charges against a 19-year-old North Little Rock man accused of killing one man and wounding another during a July 2018 holdup at a North Little Rock skate park.
Two men were shot during the late-night robbery at 2801 River Road. Armond Van Tonder, 22, of North Little Rock was killed but Jacob Bynum, 20, of Jacksonville survived. Four North Little Rock teenagers were arrested, with three pleading guilty to lesser roles.
But Monday, the day before the final defendant, Davion Tashean Wright, was to stand trial, chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims that authorities could not go forward with the case against Wright because Bynum, the surviving victim, could not conclusively identify him as the shooter.
Wright was arrested because he was implicated by some of his co-defendants and because Bynum identified him as a "look-alike" closely resembling one of the shooters, Johnson told the judge.
But Bynum, after repeatedly seeing Wright in court over the past 17 months, has since realized that he cannot definitively testify that Wright was involved, Johnson said. Since state law bars prosecution based only on the claims of co-defendants, without Bynum's identification, authorities must drop the charges, Johnson told the judge.
The admission drew a commendation from Wright's attorney Ron Davis, praising the prosecuting attorneys' ethics for acting as soon as they realized they did not have sufficient evidence to bring Wright to trial.
The three youths arrested with Wright have all accepted prison time after pleading guilty to lesser charges.
Ladetrick Desean Harris, 18, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated robbery. Jack Banks III, 17, has pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in exchange for a 30-year term while Isiah Trayshawn Gilliam, 20, has accepted a 20-year sentence for robbery.
Metro on 02/25/2020