Charge upgraded to capital murder

PINE BLUFF — The charge for the teenage suspect accused of shooting another teen Monday at Watson Chapel Junior High School was upgraded Friday from first-degree battery to capital murder following the victim’s death.

Thomas Quarles, 15, appeared Friday morning before Jefferson County District Court Judge Kim Bridgforth for the second time this week as a Jefferson County prosecutor,

Will Jones, informed the judge via teleconference authorities will seek a capital murder charge in the death of 15-year-old Daylon Burnett.

Jones told the judge the rest of the facts in the case remain the same. Quarles will be held without bail.

Quarles appeared before Bridgforth on Wednesday for an initial probable-cause hearing following his arrest Monday near the school. During that hearing, Bridgforth granted Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter’s request that Quarles be held in lieu of $1 million bail on a first-degree battery charge. Burnett died from his injuries later Wednesday while receiving medical care at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.

Both Burnett and Quarles were students at the junior high school.

When reached by email Friday and asked if Quarles will ultimately be charged as an adult, Hunter wrote, “I will not make that decision until I get the investigative file from the police department.”

Watson Chapel Junior High School entered an active-shooter protocol during the incident.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, when officers arrived at the school just after 10 a.m. Monday, a school nurse was administering aid to Burnett and applying pressure to the back of his head in a hallway by the library where the shooting had occurred.

Shortly after the shooting, Quarles was found crouching by a residence in the neighborhood of the school and was arrested by a canine team from the Arkansas Department of Corrections. A black Ruger LCP handgun was found in his pocket, authorities said.

At a news conference following the shooting Monday, Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant said officials believe the incident was targeted, as opposed to a random act.

The junior high school spent Tuesday and Wednesday holding classes online after the shooting, and opened for in-person classes Thursday. The major snowstorm that hit Arkansas in February had forced classes at Watson Chapel Junior High School to go online for a long stretch. Students had just returned for in-person instruction Monday when the shooting occurred.