We applaud interim Police Chief Shirley Warrior for her efforts to solve several cold-case homicides that occurred in the not-too-distant past in Pine Bluff.
In rapid succession, the news releases started coming out of the department’s communications wing with a few details about the incident and a plea to the public for help in solving the cases.
A man was shot and killed at an apartment complex involving a suspect that fled the scene. Another man was found unresponsive in the driveway of a vacant house — he later died. A woman flagged down a ride and was shot by someone else driving by. A man was found dead in a bedroom, having been shot in the back. The list goes on.
The fact that Warrior is putting emphasis on these crimes shows she cares — about the victims, their family and friends, and the community. The effort alone is enough to instill more confidence in the police department.
The way these things usually roll is a news release is issued after an incident saying the department is “in the early stages” of an investigation. And that might be all the information that’s forthcoming. To be sure, the department does make arrests in these cases, but when they don’t, time goes by, and we imagine the victims’ families begin to wonder if anything is going to come of the investigators’ effort. Certainly the public at large wonders.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Perhaps this renewed emphasis on these cases will jog someone’s memory or prod them to divulge some tidbit of information they had previously withheld. Who knows — that little tidbit might be enough to help solve a case.
“We know the importance of solving our homicides, engaging with our community and showing compassion,” Warrior said. “We’re treating every case, no matter how minor or major, like it happened to us. We’re taking this personal.”
Just one more thing. In Warrior’s efforts to solve these cases, we encourage her to look again at one that, technically speaking, is not a cold case. It’s the one in which an eyewitness with a clear view of the crime scene counted more people than the other witnesses identified. It’s the one where the victim supposedly died while in a scuffle over a gun, but then evidence showed he’d been shot in the back from a distance. It’s the one where an unidentified shirtless man was seen at the crime scene. It’s the one where the witnesses were barely interviewed. It’s the one where the previous police chief made inappropriate and unprofessional remarks to the victim’s family member, making it appear to some that she was protecting said family member. And it’s the one where the prosecutor, for all practical purposes, threw up his hands and went along with the flimsy police narrative, making him unable to file charges in the case.
Yes, it’s the Maurice Taggart case. He was shot dead a little more than two years ago in his backyard. The case is closed, but it remains an unsettled matter in the minds of many. Warrior could change all that by asking for outside assistance on the case. Those fresh eyes could go a long way in bringing closure to the case — one way or the other.