2nd murder charge filed in Pulaski County killing

A second Jacksonville teen faces capital murder charges after investigators said that what began as a marijuana deal ended with one teen dead and a second shot in the chest, court documents show.

Pulaski County deputies responding at 10:30 p.m. July 30 found Seth Taylor, 18, wounded in the driver’s seat of a wrecked vehicle on the 9100 block of Arkansas 161, according to an arrest report. He later died at a local hospital.

Deputies later arrested 18-year-old Seth Allen and 16-year-old Donell Davis Jr., who investigators said used social media to plan a marijuana deal with Taylor at the LSL Liquor Store at 9127 Arkansas 161, according to an arrest report and an affidavit for Davis’ arrest. Allen was charged first, and Davis’ charge followed later.

A man in the vehicle with Taylor at the time of the shooting said he and Taylor pulled up to the liquor store and Allen got in the back of Taylor’s car, the affidavit said.

Moments after Allen got in the car, Davis walked up to the driver’s side window, pointed a gun at Taylor and said, “Give it up,” the affidavit said. The witness said he heard gunshots after Taylor pushed the gun away. The witness told deputies that he grabbed his own gun and fired across Taylor at Davis, the affidavit said.

Davis was shot in the chest, and the witness said Taylor began driving away but quickly “went limp” and crashed the vehicle into a ditch, according to the affidavit. The witness told investigators that he ran from the wrecked car to the liquor store and called Taylor’s mother, the affidavit said.

Allen later told investigators that he got out of Taylor’s vehicle, ran back to his car and drove to his residence at 111 North Ave. in Jacksonville, the affidavit said.

Davis was wounded in the upper part of his chest and went to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where an investigator interviewed him, the affidavit said. According to the document, Davis said Allen saw Taylor posting photos of marijuana for sale on Snapchat, a social media and messaging application, and they planned to rob him together.

Allen initially told investigators he did not know that Davis planned to rob Taylor, but recanted after investigators told him of Davis’ confession, the affidavit said. Allen was arrested approximately three hours after the shooting, according to an arrest report.

Davis was arrested on Aug. 1 after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound that wasn’t life-threatening.

Allen was in the Pulaski County jail without bail as of Tuesday evening. Minors are not listed in the jail’s roster.