A 43-year-old woman was found shot to death on Saturday inside an apartment where a man had barricaded himself for three hours, according to the Pine Bluff Police Department.
At just before 10 a.m., police officers went to the Park View apartments, at 300 W. 13th Ave., because of a domestic disturbance, which had been called in by a family member. Officers arrived at the apartment, but a man in the apartment refused to come out and barricaded himself in the apartment. SWAT and negotiators were called out to the scene.
After almost three hours, 54-year-old Melvin Sanders came out of the apartment a little before 1 p.m. and was taken into custody without incident, according to police. He was taken to the Jefferson Regional Medical Center to be treated for an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the hand.
Officers then entered the apartment to search for any victim or other suspect. Inside the apartment they located 43-year-old Yashika Morris. Morris had suffered apparent gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jefferson County coroner’s office. Police said Sanders will be booked into the Jefferson County jail in connection with a charge of capital murder once he is released from the hospital.
Anyone with further information about this homicide is asked to call the detective office tip line at (870) 730-2106, the detective office at (870) 730-2090, or the dispatch center at (870) 541-5300.