2 men arrested in shots fatal to off-duty officer

Policeman killed in Forrest City home

Two arrests have been made in the April killing of an off-duty Forrest City police officer, authorities said.

Capt. Joe Baker of the West Memphis Police Department said Demarcus Darnell Parker, 25, was taken into custody Wednesday at his home in Marion. George Jealvontia Henderson, 22, was arrested Thursday in Memphis with assistance from a multiagency gang unit and authorities in Shelby County, Tenn., the department said in a Facebook post.

The two men were arrested in the death of 25-year-old Oliver Johnson Jr.

Johnson was at his home at the Meadows Apartment complex, 1101 S. Avalon St. in West Memphis, with his two children about 4 p.m. April 28 when shots were fired outside the complex. Multiple rounds struck the building’s facade, and one bullet hit Johnson in the upper torso, Baker said previously. No one else in the apartment was struck.

The bullet likely was not intended for Johnson, according to authorities.

Parker was booked into the Crittenden County jail shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday. He is charged with capital murder, criminal attempt to commit capital murder, unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and forgery.

His bail has not yet been set, and he is scheduled to appear in court at 9:30 a.m. today, jail officials said.

Henderson, who was named as a suspect Tuesday, is awaiting extradition back to Arkansas to face multiple charges, including capital murder, according to police.

Authorities arrested a 19-year-old with reported gang ties in Johnson’s death May 1 but let him go hours later.