U.S. marshals nab LR murder suspect

Girlfriend shot dead earlier in week

A man was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in a late-night shooting Monday in Little Rock.

Cory Dewan Brooks, 24, of 7825 W. 28th St. in Little Rock was arrested by members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force 11:38 a.m. Wednesday, Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Steven McClanahan said.

McClanahan said Brooks was stopped in a car at Asher Avenue and Fair Park Boulevard. Brooks was in the car with family members, although McClanahan was unsure how many. Brooks was arrested with no use of force, he said.

Details were unavailable on how the marshals located Brooks.

“They’re kind of on the lookout because they are getting all the fliers on the felons, especially the ones from homicide, and they assist us from time to time,” McClanahan said.

Brooks was being held in the Pulaski County jail Wednesday night with no bail set.

Officers responded to Brooks’ residence at 10:53 p.m. Monday and found Yolanda Renee Whitfield, 26, lying on her back on the

floor, police reported. She had been shot in the back, chest, neck and head. Taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, Whitfield was pronounced dead about 11:40 p.m. Monday.

Brooks’ mother, Teresa Ticey, 45, who also lives at the residence, told police Brooks and Whitfield, who were boyfriend and girlfriend, had been arguing when Ticey attempted to defuse the discord by getting between the two. Whitfield then started hitting Ticey, and Brooks said, “Stop hitting my mother.”

Police said Whitfield continued hitting Ticey, and Brooks then pulled out a black handgun and shot Whitfield before fleeing the scene on foot.

A black handgun was later found underneath a 2012 Toyota Camry parked nearby, police said. A detective reported speaking to Brooks by phone, but when he asked Brooks to surrender, Brooks hung up.

The arrest of Brooks came

about 12 hours after a special operations team of officers surrounded a west Little Rock apartment complex where they thought Brooks was hiding.

Police were called to the Breckenridge Square apartments at 1001 Breckenridge Drive about 10 p.m. Tuesday. Whitfield was a resident of the apartment complex.

Since Brooks and Whitfield had been dating, police thought Brooks might be there, McClanahan said.

Police blocked off Breckenridge Drive in front of the apartment complex and used a parking lot outside of Breckenridge Village 12 cinema as a staging ground as officers arrived and

changed into into protective gear. More officers, including a negotiator, arrived in personal vehicles as a small crowd of onlookers gathered, some filming the scene with smartphones and electronic tablets.

Officers entered the apartment about midnight and found no one inside.

Whitfield’s homicide is Little Rock’s 12th of 2015, and police have made an arrest in each case.

“It takes a lot of work to solve a homicide,” McClanahan said. “You got to have everything kind of fall in [place]. Some of them can be quite difficult, especially with a lack of forensic evidence or witnesses.”