Man pleads guilty to Halloween 2017 shootout
A habitual offender arrested in 2019 for his role in a shootout on Halloween 2017 near the intersection of Central and Grand avenues was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to charges from the incident.
Juneau Cortina Willis, 36, who lists a Lafayette Street address, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to two felony counts of committing a terroristic act and one count of possession of a firearm by certain persons, each punishable by up to
20 years, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each count, with four years suspended, all to run concurrently.
Willis is classified as a habitual offender, having been convicted in 2009 in California of having a concealed firearm on a prohibited person; in 2016 in Garland County of felony fleeing; and in 2020 in Texas of second-degree forgery.
A second suspect identified in the incident, Michael Anthony Correa, 35, who is also a convicted felon, was never located and is still being sought on multiple charges including failure to appear on a previous charge from 2017.
On Oct. 31, 2017, around 6:30 p.m., a local woman, 24, told Hot Springs police she was stopped in the outside lane of West Grand Avenue, headed west, when she heard what sounded like a gunshot hit her car, police told The Sentinel-Record at the time.
She looked to her left to the parking lot of the Valero, 1201 Central, where she saw a Black male firing a gun a second time toward the gas station. She said there was a second person she couldn’t describe standing on the south side of the Valero “which appeared to be the direction the Black male was shooting,” police said.
As she drove away, she saw the suspect with the gun run to a gold vehicle and heard a third gunshot as he drove away headed east on Grand. She later arrived home and discovered a bullet hole in the driver’s side door of her vehicle.
According to the affidavit for Willis, police responded to the Valero and to the former Hardee’s nearby at 249 W. Grand regarding a related wreck. Witnesses said the occupants of a gold Jaguar XT3 and the occupants of a newer model Chevrolet pickup were on the lot of the Valero earlier and began shooting at each other and then drove to Hardee’s.
When the Jaguar attempted to turn onto Oak Street beside Hardee’s, the driver lost control and struck a parked Chevrolet Suburban and then the driver and passenger of the Jaguar fled the scene on foot.
Detective Jarrett Cantrell reviewed security footage from both Valero and Hardee’s and recognized the driver of the Jaguar as Willis. In the video of the incident, the Chevrolet pickup drove slowly past Willis near the gas
pumps at the Valero and Willis could be seen “ducking behind his vehicle with a handgun” and then firing it.
Willis then got in the car and fled the area. After the wreck at Hardee’s, both Willis and his passenger, later identified as Correa, got out of the car and fled in two different directions. Officers located a .380 handgun in the Jaguar.
It was discovered two passing vehicles were struck by bullets while stopped at the traffic light at Grand and Central. One vehicle was hit in the driver’s door and the other sustained damage on the driver’s side, above the rear window.
Warrants for Willis and Correa were issued and Willis was arrested on Feb. 15, 2019, in Pulaski County and extradited to Hot Springs. He was released later that same day on a $56,000 bond.
His case was continued multiple times and at one point was set for trial on April 11 and then set for trial Wednesday, but Willis opted to plead guilty and the hearing was held Thursday morning.