3 students suspects in SAU slaying; nonstudent also held
Three Southern Arkansas University students have been charged with capital murder in the Tuesday morning death of a fellow student on the Magnolia campus, according to university officials.
The three are in addition to a nonstudent who was arrested Friday in the case.
Of the four arrestees, three have connections to the SAU football team, and two are on the 2020-21 football season roster, spokeswoman Donna Allen said.
Arrested were Odies Wilson, 21, of North Little Rock; Le’Kamerin Tolbert, 20, of Little Rock; and Shaivonn “Shakey” Robinson, 19, of Vacherie, La., according to a university statement.
The three were taken to the Columbia County jail, facing charges of capital murder in the death of engineering senior Joshua Smith, 21, the statement said.
Nonstudent Quincy Lewis, 19, was arrested Friday by U.S. Marshals in Pulaski County, according to reports.
“We are grateful for the great work of the SAU Police Department, the Magnolia Police Department, Columbia County Sheriff’s Department, the Arkansas State Police, and U.S. Marshals,” SAU President Trey Berry said in the statement.
He praised the agencies’ persistence, saying the arrests move the victim’s grieving family closer to closure “and allows our community to rest easier knowing that the suspects in this case have been identified.”
Tolbert and Robinson are both listed on the Mulerider football roster. Tolbert is a redshirt sophomore linebacker from Joe T. Robinson High School, and Robinson is a sophomore defensive back
The four men are being held at least until their 3 p.m. Monday arraignment, during which additional charges may be filed against them, according to the release.
from East Ascension High School in Vacherie, according to Allen.
Wilson is a former redshirt player on the team, she reported.SAU football Head Coach Bill Keopple could not be reached for comment Saturday regarding the arrests.
The four men are being held at least until their 3 p.m. Monday arraignment, during which additional charges may be filed against them, according to the release.
On Tuesday morning just after 12:30 a.m., Smith and a second student yet to be identified by the university were shot after a brief encounter, according to a release from the university.
The second student was taken to Magnolia Regional Medical Center and was listed in stable condition, the release said.
Authorities originally stated in the release that a group of students living off-campus met a group not believed to be associated with the school in the parking lot of the Campus Community Center.
On Saturday, Allen would not elaborate on how specifically the incident occurred but said a police report will be available early next week.
SAU received criticism for not locking down the school Tuesday or canceling classes. Tuesday was the first day of the school’s fall semester. Some students were upset that classes went on that day even as police had yet to arrest anyone in the shooting.
The Tuesday release said that the incident was “not random” and that no one at the university was in danger.
Allen said that’s why university leaders decided not to lock down the school.
“It was a targeted, isolated incident that was over when our police came on the scene,” Allen said.
This is the first homicide ever on the SAU campus, according to Allen.