Shooter who injured bystander sentenced

A 23-year-old Little Rock woman who shot an innocent bystander in the parking lot of the Arkansas Health Department two years ago has accepted a 12-year prison sentence.

Police said Tiara Sharae Higgins missed her intended target, a woman who had two toddlers with her.

Higgins pleaded guilty as charged Monday to first-degree battery, unlawful discharge of a firearm and two counts of terroristic act for the January 2017 lunchtime shooting in the parking lot of the agency on West Markham Street in Little Rock.

She faced a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison and had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday. In exchange for her guilty plea, Higgins’ 12-year sentence will be followed by a two-year suspended sentence.

Caleb McClain, 35, said he heard what he thought were firecrackers when he was shot in the left shoulder. McClain did not see the shooter, police said. However, another person in the parking lot did.

Laquesia Shaniece Cooley, 29, of West Memphis, saw Higgins shooting and recognized her. She called 911 and told police that Higgins had been shooting at her.

Cooley, who was at the Health Department to pick up a birth certificate for her nephew, told police that she didn’t really know Higgins, but that Cooley’s sister, Japonica Michelle Bailey, and Higgins had been feuding for years.

Police said the 10-monthold nephew and Cooley’s 3-year-old son were with her when Higgins opened fire.

Cooley was able to direct police to the neighborhood where Higgins lived, and police found her at 4417 W 26th St. that same day. Higgins declined to talk with police, who did not immediately arrest her.

But detectives did seize her car. In the vehicle, they found a bullet and a shell casing, along with Higgins’ driver’s license and cellphone. Higgins was arrested about 1½ weeks after the shooting when police obtained a warrant.