Suspect violated bond conditions, prosecutors say
Arrest sought after car crash
Prosecutors are calling for the arrest of the 37-year-old son of a former Little Rock gang leader-turned-community activist because he was arrested on a cocaine-possession charge after a car crash last month.
Leifel Gentry Hudspeth of Little Rock is awaiting trial over accusations that he shot a man last year in a dispute about the man’s wife, who is also Hudspeth’s ex-wife. Prosecutors say his May 19 arrest violates the conditions of his $12,500 bond, which require him to undergo weekly drug testing.
On Wednesday, deputy prosecutor Michelle Quiller petitioned Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright to order Hudspeth’s arrest, citing the circumstances of Hudspeth’s crash near the corner of West 65th Street and Geyer Springs Road.
Officers suspected drunken driving and during a search of his car found suspected cocaine. He was arrested on the felony drug charge and also ticketed for driving without a license and fined $475, court records show.
Police report that Hudspeth also had cocaine on him when he was arrested in August on charges filed in the shooting: committing a terroristic act, first-degree battery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He spent about two months in jail last year until persuading the judge to reduce his bail from $75,000.
Hudspeth’s father, 57-yearold Leifel Gentry Jackson, testified on his son’s behalf at an October 2018 bond hearing. Jackson is now a community activist with a youth advocacy program but in the 1990s, he called himself “O.G.” and had a reputation for selling cocaine and trying to discourage gang violence.
He was featured in both documentaries about Little Rock’s bloody Crips-Bloods rivalry, Gang War: Bangin’ in Little Rock in 1994 and its 10th anniversary sequel, Back in the Hood: Gang War 2.
Jackson told the judge he hasn’t been in trouble with the law since he got out of prison on a drug-dealing conviction in 1999 and that he didn’t know anything about the accusations against his son or whether Hudspeth is involved in any illegal activities.
Jackson told the judge that Hudspeth, who has convictions for criminal mischief, commercial burglary, theft and firearms possession, would live with him while released on bond and that he had a restaurant job waiting for him.
Hudspeth is accused of shooting Michael T. Brooks, 39, of Little Rock in the leg as Brooks and a friend were driving in the 1700 block of South Johnson Street a couple of hours past midnight on Aug. 18. Brooks was looking for his wife.
According to police testimony, Brooks and the woman had argued at their home and she left. The woman later called Brooks and said she was with Hudspeth so Brooks went to see if she was really there.
Hudspeth’s lawyers say Brooks initially told police he didn’t know who shot him and that his account of talking to his wife does not match phone records.
Court records show that since the shooting, Brooks has been arrested twice by Little Rock police.
He was arrested New Years’ Day at 13th and Bishop Warren streets on misdemeanor harassment, domestic assault and fleeing charges that involve his wife, Whitney Marie Brooks, 34. He’s scheduled to stand trial in August. He was court ordered to stay away from the woman until the charges are resolved.
Court records show Whitney Brooks opposed the order. The couple were married in May 2015. She and Hudspeth were married in October 2005, separated in 2007 and divorced in 2011 and have two children together.
Michael Brooks was next arrested on April 11 at Bradford Place Apartments, 6310 Colonel Glenn Road, after police said he was found with cocaine.
In September 2017, Brooks was arrested over accusations that he had shot at his wife and had beaten her up, but the charges were dropped eight months later. He’s currently on probation for cocaine possession and domestic battery involving another woman.