Dates set for capital murder trials
TEXARKANA, Ark. — Two men accused of capital murder in the Feb. 3 shooting of a Texarkana, Arkansas, man have been scheduled for August jury trials in Miller County.
Jucquian Martez Tyson, 22, and Keanu White, 23, are accused of killing Phillip Lee for the $3,000 to $4,000 in cash believed to have been in his possession before he was fatally shot, according to a probable cause affidavit. Both men appeared Tuesday via video from the Miller County jail for pretrial hearings before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson.
The state has not made an announcement in either case as to whether the death penalty will be sought, Chief Deputy
Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Black said. The only other punishment available for capital murder is life without parole.
Johnson scheduled both men to return to court in early August for pretrial hearings and set a tentative trial date of Aug. 24. That date could change at the request of either the state or defense or because of logistical issues created by the COVID19 pandemic.
Tyson appeared with Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson. Conway, Arkansas, lawyer Tabatha Branch entered a notice of appearance Friday on White’s behalf indicating she has been retained to represent him.
Texarkana, Arkansas, police were called to the Village Park South Apartments on East Street shortly before noon Feb. 3. Lee was found on the ground outside his apartment with gunshot wounds to his chest, side and wrist.
He was pronounced dead that evening at a local hospital.
Using video surveillance, police quickly identified a silver Lincoln Town Car as possibly being involved in the crime. The car’s owner was found, interviewed and determined not to have been in possession of the car at the time of the shooting.
The Lincoln’s owner allegedly traded cars with Tyson and White about 9 a.m. Feb. 3 at the Sandflat Center. The Lincoln’s owner took possession of a-black and-white Crown Victoria, a former police car, and White and Tyson allegedly drove away in the Lincoln.
Sometime after noon Feb. 3, White and Tyson allegedly returned the Lincoln to its owner during a meeting at Sunset Apartments. The Lincoln’s owner allegedly told police Tyson “seemed off” and was listening to a police scanner app on his cellphone. The Lincoln’s owner allegedly told investigators he hid the car at his mother’s home after hearing on the police scanner app that authorities were searching for it.
According to court records and earlier reports, Tyson, White and Lee had been charged previously as co-defendants in the burglary of a local pawn shop.
White is serving a five-year term of felony probation for residential burglary and theft of a firearm in Miller County. He pleaded guilty to the charges in October, court records show. A motion filed in mid-February to revoke White’s probation is pending.
At the time of his arrest in Lee’s death, Tyson was free on a $100,000 bond posted in a pending robbery case in Miller County. Records show Tyson made a court appearance in that case Feb. 4, the day after Lee’s murder. Prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his probation in mid-February and an order revoking his bond in that case has been granted by a circuit judge.
Bail for both Tyson and White is set at $500,000 in the capital murder case. Both men are being held in the Miller County jail.