Suspects in fatal SAU shooting appear in court

MAGNOLIA — Only two of the four defendants charged in an August fatal shooting on the campus of Southern Arkansas University appeared Thursday for scheduled court hearings.

Shaivonn Robinson, 20, of Vacherie, La., and Quincy Lewis, 20, of Little Rock appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court. Le’Kamerin Tolbert, 20, of Little Rock and Odies Wilson IV, 21, of North Little Rock were not present.

Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Phillips said Tolbert’s attorney had a tire blow out on his way to court and Wilson’s attorney, Ronald Davis, had a scheduling conflict.

All four defendants are charged with capital murder, first-degree battery and aggravated robbery in the Aug. 11 death of 21-year-old Joshua Keshun Smith. All four have pleaded innocent.

Prosecutors have said they are considering pursuing the death penalty.

Robinson was represented Thursday by Katherine Streett of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission. He did not speak during the five-minute proceeding.

Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Phillips said he received a number of motions in December from Robinson’s attorney and that he would submit written responses to the motions by the end of this week. Robinson’s next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 21.

Lewis sat beside his attorney, Jeff Harrelson of the Harrelson Law Firm in Texarkana, but did not speak during the hearing.

Harrelson questioned Lewis’ mother, Sabrina Mills, about her son and the family’s home life. She said her son returned home from taking classes at Tulsa Welding School in March because of the pandemic and went to work for a construction company.

Phillips, the prosecuting attorney, asked Mills about her son’s schooling and work, and how he got to Tulsa from Little Rock. Mills stated her son would take the bus to Tulsa and that Tolbert, her stepson, had driven him to SAU around the time of the shooting.

Lewis’ next hearing is set for Jan. 21. Tolbert’s next appearance is Jan. 21, and Wilson is set to appear Jan. 28.

Probable-cause affidavits supporting the arrests of the four men describe a prearranged drug sale in a parking lot on the SAU campus that became an ambush when a gunman fired on a vehicle with three people inside, killing Smith — a senior at the university — and wounding another student.

In the four identical affidavits, university Police Department detective Sgt. Bret McMahen wrote that, based on witness interviews, Smith had arranged over Snapchat to sell marijuana to a man. Smith asked two others, Lucas Sharp and Alex Copeland, to accompany him in his vehicle for the meeting because he did not know the man well, police were told.

When the three men found the prospective buyer in the parking lot, the man got into their vehicle. Smith gave him a box containing the marijuana, which the man examined. The man told Smith he needed to get his money, saying he did not have it, and left, according to the affidavit.

As soon as the man exited the vehicle, another person ran up to the driver’s side window and started shooting, police were told.