Man held in carwash killing

Suspect, victim had argued online, Blytheville police say

A Blytheville man faces charges in the fatal shooting of a man with whom he had been feuding on social media, police said.

Travis Lamar Reed, 27, was charged Monday in Blytheville District Court with first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Police said Reed killed Deandre Love, 28, of Blytheville on Saturday evening at Sunbath Carwash II on South Division and West McHaney.

Love and a friend were washing Love’s car in one of the wash bays at 7:15 p.m. Saturday when Reed approached Love, witnesses told police. The two men argued and Reed began shooting at Love, said Capt. Scott Adams, commander of the Blytheville Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Love was shot multiple times, Adams said. Police did not reveal the caliber of the weapon.

Officers found Love lying in the wash bay next to his car. He was unable to speak, police said.

Medical personnel transported Love to Pafford Emergency Medical Service about a block away. He was then flown by helicopter to Regional Medical Center in Memphis where he died later that evening, Adams said.

Reed turned himself in Sunday at the Mississippi County sheriff’s office in Blytheville after Blytheville police issued warrants for his arrest. He was taken to the Mississippi County jail in Luxora.

Blytheville District Judge Shannon Langston set Reed’s bail at $500,000 Monday. Reed remained in jail Monday evening, Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson said.

Witnesses told police that Reed and Love had been arguing on social media, including Facebook, for several weeks and posting messages about each other on the sites.

Adams did not say what the dispute was about.

Reed has a lengthy criminal history, including domestic battery, assault, sexual misconduct, criminal trespassing and being a felon in possession of a firearm, Adams said.

Reed also was arrested in 2011 in the investigation of the March 2, 2011, fatal shooting of Dorian Long, 20, of Osceola. Police found Long’s body in a vacant lot near Alabama and Beale streets in western Blytheville.

Authorities later released Reed and instead arrested and charged Devontae Rivers, 19, of Blytheville with the slaying. Rivers was sentenced to 35 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Love’s death is the fourth homicide this year in the Mississippi County town of 14,884.