The Pine Bluff Police Department conducted an internal investigation into the Nov. 21 shooting death of Jeremy Lawrence Jr. in which the local prosecuting attorney found all three officers to be justified in using deadly force under Arkansas law.
The investigation was separate from that conducted by State Police, the inquiry of which 11th West Circuit Prosecutor Kyle Hunter used in his findings. Following a speaking engagement at Wednesday’s Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon, Pine Bluff Police Chief Shawn Davis said his department’s probe is to determine what, if any, department policies were violated and not based on Hunter’s findings.
“The criminal side has been adjudicated, so we’re not going to open that back up,” Davis said. “As a matter of fact, I just got the final investigation (Tuesday). I need to read over it, and I plan on doing a press release and let the public know on the findings that we came across, as far as policies that were violated during this incident.”
Hunter announced in February that Derek Johnson, Corey Lowery and J.L. Williams were cleared of violating state law in shooting Lawrence. All three were reinstated from paid administrative leave following the findings, but Lowery has since resigned, Davis confirmed.
“He wasn’t under any more investigation,” said Davis, a 24-year member of the PBPD who took over as chief Jan. 1. “It wasn’t like he was forced out, and I guess having time to think about it during the investigation with the prosecuting attorney, I guess he felt like that was the best thing to do for him and his family. We wish them well, so we move on from there.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The PBPD’s Office of Professional Standards conducted the internal investigation.
Shortly before the luncheon, Davis issued a public letter apologizing to families affected by recent investigations involving a death on South Oak Street and a missing person case involving William Hawkins.
Although not named in the public letter, a 63-year-old man was found lying just off the roadway in front of a residence at 2015 S. Oak St. on Feb. 26, police said in an online news release. Police later added an investigation into the death determined dogs owned by Crystal and John Mayo attacked and killed Kenny Christopher.
Crystal Mayo, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday, police said. John Mayo, 42, is still at large.
“I was looking at my phone and I was on Facebook, and I saw one of the relatives had posted they found what happened to one of their loved ones on our page, and they hadn’t heard from us personally,” Davis said after the luncheon. “I reached out to them personally, and then, as I thought about, I said, ‘Well, if we did it openly on our page, then we need to apologize openly on our Facebook page.’ It wasn’t nothing malicious or anything. It was just bad communication on our part, and you never want to make a family feel that way. You have to take in consideration if it was your loved one and the first time you hear about something is on social media, then you wouldn’t like that. It just wasn’t a good look for the department, so I just felt that needed to be addressed.”
Police said March 2 Hawkins was found safe after he was last seen Feb. 27.
During the luncheon, Davis said the PBPD is looking to establish more substations across the city. Davis said a representative from Jefferson Square offered the use of a suite without the department paying for a lease or bills and that he was going to see the suite later that afternoon.
“Soon as he shows us that, we basically can get started,” Davis said. “We can put a little furniture inside, put up a decal, and we can get started.”
Currently the PBPD has substations at 30th Avenue and Ash Street, where the violent crimes task force works, and next to the fire station near Saracen Casino Resort. The department will add locations at 13th Avenue and Cherry Street, and Third Avenue and Main Street, where Pop’s Barber Shop is located.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure the presence is there,” Davis said.
The department seeks to be more proactive with community-oriented policing, Davis told luncheon attendees. The “first wave” of overhead cameras for the city are expected to come within the next 60 to 90 days, he said, while license plate readers are already installed.
The PBPD has asked for the public’s help in solving two cold cases from 2022. Darwin Marquis Ford, 42, was found suffering from apparent gunshot wounds at 1020 S. Linden St. on Jan. 7 of that year. On April 14, Trevion Nelson, 21, was found lying face down in the doorway of a residence at 3502 S. Virginia St., also suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The PBPD is offering a reward for any information that leads to the arrest or conviction of those responsible for either death.
“We’re trying to be more proactive on working on cold cases,” Davis said. “Just because they’re cold, doesn’t mean somebody doesn’t know something new. If you revisit that case file, you might see something you missed the first time. We just want to make sure we’re trying to get justice for all the families of victims. We may not be able to do it for everybody, but we want to do our part to try.”