Pine Bluff Police have made arrests in six of the eight murders committed in the city so far this year and are asking the public for help in identifying suspects in the remaining two. Willie Baines, 30, was found with a gunshot wound to his head inside a parked vehicle on Feb. 18, and Jordan Deshawn Turner, 29, was found lying in the middle of the street near the intersection of West Fifth Avenue and Myrtle Street on March 19, one of five homicides reported that month.
Interim Police Chief Ivan Whitfield said Friday that police believe there are people who have knowledge about the person or persons involved in the two incidents and are asking them to contact detectives for any information they have. Baines was sitting in the driver’s seat of a maroon Chrysler 200 that was found in the area of West 24th Avenue and Poplar Street at about 4 p.m. Feb. 18. He was initially taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, then sent to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
An initial police report of the incident showed that Baines had a 9-millimeter handgun in the pocket of his hoodie; a check with the Arkansas Crime Information Center database showed that the gun had been reported stolen in a burglary at Easy Pawn in July 2016. In the case of Turner, Deputy Jefferson County Coroner Eric Belcher pronounced him dead at the scene and listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the upper body.
Two shell casings of an unknown caliber were found near the body. Whitfield said Friday that police will be working with the Pine Bluff City Council in the near future to ask for a pool of money to be available to offer as rewards for information on cold cases.
“We need to get these solved and offering a reward for information is one of the things we think will help,” Whitfield said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Anyone with information should contact the Detective Division at 730-2090 or the dispatch center at 541-5300. All calls will be kept confidential.
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