Testimony: 3 shot when detective slain

Prosecutors called three witnesses linked to KeShone Smith in the 2020 shooting death of a Pine Bluff police detective to the stand Wednesday, the third day of Smith’s trial inside Judge Jodi Dennis’ 11th West Circuit Fifth Division courtroom.

Dave Wright, Kirel Young and DeAndre Gates were in a red Dodge Charger when they were shot by police outside the Econo Lodge Motel on North Blake Street on Oct. 5, 2020. Det. Kevin D. Collins, 35, was gunned down in the shootout, and Smith, now 23, is charged with capital murder in Collins’ killing, as well as first-degree battery of police Lt. Ralph Isaac and first-degree battery of Wright. A third first-degree battery count of injuring Young was dropped.

Young, now 27, pointed out Smith at the defense table wearing a light blue button-down shirt, when asked by Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter. Young pointed below the middle finger of his right hand, where he said gunfire from police struck him.

Young said Collins pulled him over in a traffic stop the day before and told him to either help find Smith or Collins “would plant cocaine in his car.” Young told Hunter he agreed to help Collins because he considered Smith “an associate,” but added he didn’t remember how he got Smith to meet with him.

On Oct. 5, Young testified, he ended up in a red Dodge Charger with Wright and DeAndre Gates. Young and Wright testified they went to a Days Inn trying to locate Smith and then got word he was at the Econo Lodge, where they switched seats.

“Dave was scared of [Smith],” Young said, testifying Wright moved to the front seat and Smith lay across the backseat as Collins and other police officers arrived. The officers arrived to serve a warrant on Smith in connection to a homicide in Georgia, according to court documents.

Young said he texted Collins and stood outside the car at the time officers arrived.

“When the cops came, I saw Collins and I expected him to arrest me,” Young said, adding Collins ordered him to “Put your

hands up!” before shots rang.

Asked who shot first, Young said he saw Collins do it.

“If KeShone shot first, he would have shot me,” Young said. He explained he was standing in front of the opening of the door blocking the officers’ view of Smith.

“KeShone didn’t shoot until he felt threatened,” Young also said, but he then added he didn’t see Smith shoot because Young was in front of him.

Wright, now 27, said he wasn’t meeting anyone in particular the day of the shootout but knew Young and Gates from school. At the Econo Lodge, Wright testified, police pulled up, got out of their vehicles and drew their weapons, ordered those in the red Charger to “Show us your hands!” and then fired shots. Wright also said that the first shots came from the officers, but that he did not see other shots.

Wright testified he was shot in the back and sustained a bullet wound in the neck but said he was not sure if he was shot there. Police asked Wright for his DNA two or three years after the incident, he said, but he declined, citing personal reasons.

The worst part of being shot, Wright said, was the aftermath of it.

“They put me in cuffs after I was shot,” Wright told defense attorney Lee D. Short. “They interrogated me as if I was the suspect.” Wright was not charged. Asked how he knew Smith before Young’s testimony, Wright said he didn’t know Smith prior to Wednesday but heard his name.

Gates, who is said to be held on federal charges in another case, was called to the stand although he indicated to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Karres Manning he wanted to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and not testify. Gates, indicated as the driver in Young’s and Wright’s testimony, refused to take any questions from the prosecution despite being warned by the judge that he could face a Class B misdemeanor, which could result in a fine of up to $500 and up to 90 days in jail.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors watched three 15-minute raw videos of aerial footage of the shootout at the Econo Lodge, which according to Arkansas State Police digital evidence manager Jeff Taylor started at 10:54 a.m. Minimal enhancement of the video was possible, Taylor said, because the incident occurred so far away.

Prosecutors also entered into evidence photographs of Collins’ police gear he wore that day, including a vest that had blood in the upper left chest area and a radio pouch that was struck by bullets.

Audio recordings of Smith’s interviews with State Police investigators Neal Thomas and Ryan Jacks that day were released as well. Thomas, now the sheriff of Montgomery County in western Arkansas, said Smith voluntarily spoke to him at a local hospital and began to tell his story before indicating he understood the Miranda rights.

Smith said during that interview he walked outside his room at the Econo Lodge to light a cigarette.

“Two Chargers came, and they didn’t immediately look like police cars,” Smith said in the audio. “These guys jumped out and started shooting. I kind of got crossfired.”

Smith said he didn’t know the people involved in the shootout, but he knew he was hit.

“I felt it. That s*** hurt,” he said. “If my folks were rich, I could file a lawsuit.”

That interview ended at 2:15 p.m., according to Thomas.

About three hours later, Jacks and two other investigators talked with Smith at the State Police Company B kitchen in Pine Bluff. Smith told those officers the motel room was not booked in his name because the minimum booking age for the motel was 21 (he was 19 at the time), but he couldn’t recall whether his aunt or her boyfriend booked it.

Two other Chargers pulled up behind the red one, Smith said in this audio, with the first officer ordering him and the other occupants in the first Charger, “Hands up! Don’t move!”

“That’s how I got shot; I was looking,” Smith said.

He also denied possessing a gun or shooting one, although the investigators told him otherwise. They accused him of coming downstairs when he said he was smoking a cigarette outside and alleged that his DNA was on a gun.

“I was scared for my life,” Smith then told the agents. Asked what he did with the gun, he responded: “I probably tossed it. I don’t know.”

Smith could be heard saying he lay the gun down in the backseat and then got shot in the foot.

“I know they weren’t shooting at me,” he said. “I don’t sell drugs. I go home, chill with my girlfriend and take care of my son.”

The trial will resume at 9 this morning and is expected to last through this week.

Wright, now 27, said he wasn’t meeting anyone in particular the day of the shootout but knew Young and Gates from school. At the Econo Lodge, Wright testified, police pulled up, got out of their vehicles and drew their weapons, ordered those in the red Charger to “Show us your hands!” and then fired shots.