Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Court filing IDs teen charged in shooting of boy.

Child, 7, hurt in June drive-by near grandmothe­r’s home

- RYAN TARINELLI

A Little Rock teenager has been identified as the gunman in a drive-by shooting that wounded a 7-year-old boy this summer, according to court documents obtained Tuesday.

Cavorontre Green, 18, was arrested after, police say, he shot the 7-year-old boy while the child was outside his grandmothe­r’s residence at 1123 Washington St. on June 27, according to an affidavit written by Little Rock police.

Le’Darren Calais, the 7-year-old who was wounded in the arm, was taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital after the shooting and did not have life-threatenin­g injuries, the affidavit said.

Police have said the child was not targeted, and the court documents did not detail a motive for the drive-by shooting.

Le’Darren told police he was playing outside when he saw a black and silver truck heading south on Washington Street. He said a man inside the vehicle opened fire at people who were hanging out in a vacant lot near his grandmothe­r’s residence, according to the documents.

He told police he ran inside his grandmothe­r’s residence after hearing the shots and seeing the shooting. Once inside, Le’Darren told authoritie­s, he realized he had been shot.

His grandmothe­r, Ester Morrison, said her six grandchild­ren were playing in the yard when the shooting occurred, according to a police report.

After the shooting, police developed Dagan Coleman, 21, as a suspect. Days after the shooting, authoritie­s took him into custody, the affidavit said.

Coleman agreed to talk with police and gave a statement. Coleman told police he was in the vehicle during the shooting, but said he did not fire the shots, according to the court documents.

Instead, Coleman said it was Green who fired an assault-type rifle during the shooting, something that authoritie­s said was consistent with evidence, according to the affidavit. Coleman also identified Nykian Raines, 20, of Little Rock as the driver of the vehicle, the documents show.

In his statement, Coleman described the vehicle in detail and revealed the route they took after the shooting, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said video surveillan­ce confirmed Coleman’s story. Police said Coleman was initially arrested in the shooting, but online court records show the charges were dropped.

Online court records show that Raines and Green each face three felonies in the nonfatal shooting.

Green was arrested July 5 and did not give a statement to police, according to an arrest report. Raines surrendere­d to police at the 12th Street Substation on July 4, according to a report. The report said Raines’ mother took him to the police station to surrender on outstandin­g warrants.

Both Green and Raines were listed on the Pulaski County jail’s inmate roster Tuesday afternoon.

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