Son charged in shooting involving father

EL DORADO — A shooting late Wednesday afternoon left one man injured. Lt. Scott Harwell, chief investigator for the Police Department, said police responded to the intersection of Liberty and Newton Streets at about 5:30 p.m. to a reported shooting.

They found Vance Powell, 55, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma to his head. He was taken to the Medical Center of South Arkansas, and was in stable condition Thursday afternoon.

One arrest was made Wednesday, at about 6:45 p.m. Vanquest R. Powell was arrested near the scene of the shooting, and is Vance Powell’s son, Harwell said.

Vanquest Powell is facing charges of first-degree attempted murder with a potential penalty enhancement attached for committing a felony with a firearm.

TEXARKANA — Downtown is becoming the happening place on Friday and Saturday nights, so much so even the ghosts want in on the action.

The Haunted Texarkana Ghost Walks returned Friday to bring a different sort of entertainment to the downtown neighborhood, complete with scary tales and historical settings.

Brandy Aaron is bringing the spooky tours back now that more people are coming downtown, she says.

The ghost tours will run Friday and Saturday nights, starting at 8 p.m. at the Kress Gap on the Texas side, 114 W. Broad St. They’ll continue throughout the rest of the year as long as there’s interest, Aaron said. She last conducted the tours two years ago.

With the lights and murals, the Kress Gap is the right place to start as people assemble for the tour, Aaron said. “People can come and take all the selfies they want while we’re waiting for everyone to arrive. It’s about a one-mile route, what I’ve got mapped out,” she said.

She’s been doing research to include new stories in this tour. She’ll discuss both Texarkana ghosts and Texarkana history. “We found some good stuff we’re going to add to the tour. We just want this to be fun. We’ve got new people coming downtown all the time now that it’s an entertainment district,” Aaron said.

LITTLE ROCK — A man who told police he shot a man in a jealous rage was denied a bail reduction after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims heard testimony that not only had the defendant admitted to the shooting, the June gunfire put a 5-year-old boy in danger.

Cedric Eugene Pennington, 37, has been jailed since he surrendered to police seven hours after Courtney Torrence, 33, was shot in his residence at Westbridge Apartments, 2123 Labette Manor Drive.

With his bail set at $200,000, Pennington is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and first-degree battery along with five counts of committing a terroristic act, one for each person in the home, including Torrence, Shae White, Walter Jaquavius Jones, Torrence’s girlfriend Miracle Watson and the couple’s 5-year-old son.

Detective Bryant Miller told the judge Pennington admitted to the shooting after he was arrested, telling investigators he found texts on his girlfriend’s phone that caused him to believe she was cheating on him with Torrence. Pennington said he then rushed over to confront Torrence and shot at him, Miller testified.

LITTLE ROCK — A man who shot a 5-year-old girl in the back when he opened fire on her mother’s car about three weeks before Christmas has received a 12-year prison sentence.

Sentencing papers filed Thursday show that 24-year-old Anthony Jerome Williams Jr. has pleaded guilty to committing a terroristic act and to first-degree battery in exchange for the 12-year prison term imposed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright. That term will be followed by an eight-year suspended sentence.

Under the conditions of his plea agreement, negotiated by deputy prosecutor Robbie Jones and public defender Brandy Turner, two other terroristic act charges, involving the girl’s 9-year-old brother and 29-year-old mother, Aerial Scott, were dropped. Neither was injured in the shooting.

Scott told police she was driving out of the Autumn Park apartments area at 43 Warren Drive with her children in the backseat when two men in hoodies jumped in front of her car. One of the men fell to the ground and then she heard several gunshots, so she sped away. Scott said when she got to her mother’s home on Baseline Road, her daughter started complaining about being hurt, and Scott saw that the girl had been shot in the back.

Scott told investigators that she did not know the men and did not get a very good look at them.

CAMDEN — The Ouachita County Historical Society has canceled its September meeting as well as the biannual Oakland Cemetery Walk due to concerns over the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.

A Facebook post from the Ouachita County Historical society states, “The September 2020 OCHS Quarterly Meeting has been canceled due to Covid-19. We look forward to meeting again as a Society when social distancing isn’t an issue. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us in whatever way you can. Your donations have helped greatly with mowing at Oakland Cemetery and are most appreciated. We are open for museum tours, limited in size to 4-5 people and a mask is required.”

The Oakland Cemetery Walk is also canceled according to a Facebook post from the society.

Normally reenactors would dress up in historically accurate garb and tell event goers about the life of the people buried in Oakland Cemetery.