Teen brothers to face armed robbery charges as juveniles

LITTLE ROCK — The case against two teenage brothers accused of stealing the AR-15 rifle of a third teen in an armed robbery near Little Rock’s River Market District was transferred to juvenile court on Thursday.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Karen Whatley acceded to a defense request to send 17-year-old Omarion Davion Hill and Jaydon Nelson, 16, to juvenile court to face charges of aggravated robbery and felony theft. Whatley designated the brothers as extended juvenile jurisdiction offenders.

Under state law, extended juvenile jurisdiction offenders can eventually face adult penalties, such as probation or prison, if found delinquent and a judge determines they have not been rehabilitated.

Prosecutors had approved charging the brothers as adults but did not oppose the effort to have them tried in juvenile court. The teens’ lawyers, Fernando Padillo and Michelle Quiller, told the judge the brother’s lives have been scarred by homicidal violence, with both their father and older brother killed in separate incidents. Tre’vion Deshun Lamar Nelson, 21, was fatally shot in Pine Bluff in April 2022, and his murder is unsolved, while prosecutors found that 39-year-old Odetric Hill’s ex-girlfriend was justified when she fatally shot him in Little Rock in January 2020.

Whatley said the boys deserve a chance at rehabilitation since they have never been in trouble with the law before. She urged them to make the most of the chance they’ve been given.

According to arrest reports, 19-year-old Bobby Dean Davis flagged down police shortly after midnight on Aug. 13 to report that he had been sitting on a bench on the north side of the Clinton Presidential Library parking lot with his AR15 rifle slung across his back when he was accosted by three people, all armed. They demanded his rifle, and he surrendered it.

Davis said the trio had walked past him, put on ski masks then walked back to rob him. They left in a silver older sport utility vehicle that had heavy front end damage, Davis said.

Four days later, Davis was able to provide detectives with screenshots of the trio from Instagram that showed them holding his rifle and making derogatory comments toward him. Davis said he thought the trio attended Hall High School, so detectives showed the pictures to the school’s resource officer Nikkie Mussadiq, who was able to identify the three as Hill, Nelson and a third teenager.

After further investigation, the brothers were arrested about a month after the robbery. The third boy was not charged after detectives determined that while he had been with the brothers, he did not participate in the holdup. The brothers spent about nine days in jail before bonding out.

Police reports show that Davis, like the brothers, has also been exposed to murderous violence. His stepfather, 34-year-old Barry Lamont Campbell, was found fatally shot in October 2022 outside of 4423 W. 12th St. in Little Rock. A second man was wounded in the leg. A week later, police arrested 20-yearold Joshua Eugene Thomas of Little Rock in the shootings, but the charges were dropped two months later.