Man charged in LR slaying of 2 years ago

A man who was convicted in a homicide from 12 years ago in Iowa has been charged in a slaying that occurred two years ago in Little Rock, authorities said.

Jacovan Bush, 31, was charged Friday with capital murder and aggravated battery in connection with the Feb. 15, 2018, shooting death of 23-yearold Devon Howard, who was found dead inside his apartment at 5 Falcon Court.

Officer Eric Barnes, a spokesman with the Little Rock Police Department, said Bush had moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, shortly after the killing. He was picked up there Friday by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to police.

When police responded to Howard’s apartment two years ago, they found him lying unresponsive on the floor with a gunshot wound, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses told detectives someone had knocked on the door, and when Howard answered, two men forced their way inside and began struggling with him, according to police. The witnesses scattered into separate rooms and heard a gunshot. When they returned to the living room, they discovered the suspects had left and the victim was lying on the floor, police said.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Bush was convicted in 2008 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. That conviction was overturned, and in 2013 he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Bush had remained behind bars since April 2008, so he received credit for time served. The reduced sentence also accelerated his eligibility for parole, according to the Gazette. Iowa prison records show that Bush was released from prison in February 2017, and his parole status ended in August 2019.

The victim in the 2008 slaying also was fatally shot. Authorities said Bush had a gun with him when his friends got involved in a fight with the victim’s friends outside an apartment building in Cedar Rapids. Bush fired into a crowd of people and a bullet struck the victim, killing him.

After his latest arrest, Bush will remain behind bars at the Linn County jail in Iowa awaiting extradition to Arkansas, according to police.

Barnes said the investigation remains open.