A Pine Bluff man faces a combined 23 counts — including capital murder, terroristic acts and aggravated assault — in the Feb. 9 death of Miguel Hoyt, 27.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth ordered Michael Earl Hill Jr., 22, to be held at the Dub Brassell Detention Center without bond.
Hill was charged with one count of Class Y capital murder, five counts of Class B first-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm in a vehicle, six counts of Class B second-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm in a vehicle, five counts of Class Y terroristic act with the purpose of causing physical injury or death, five counts of Class B terroristic act and one count of Class D aggravated assault. Capital murder carries a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, or the death penalty.
Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis issued a bench warrant for Hill on Tuesday. He was booked into the jail at 9:04 p.m. Thursday.
Pine Bluff police responded to a call at 103 Park Place at about 7:40 p.m. Feb. 9, according to an affidavit from Detective Enrique Soto. A white Dodge Challenger was parked on the side of the road with several bullet holes on the driver’s side door and a Black male later identified as Hoyt slumped over. Multiple spent shell casings of different calibers were spotted in the street.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
A witness told police she saw a dark car driving at a high rate of speed when she heard gunshots outside her residence, according to Soto. The vehicle was reportedly traveling east on Park Place.
A witness on the same block as the crime scene said he noticed a four-door SUV, later identified as a Honda Element, pull up to the side of him at about 7:30 p.m. The witness said he saw the SUV go down to a stop sign at Main Street and Park Place and make a U-turn facing Hoyt’s Challenger. The driver and a back passenger allegedly let the windows down and began shooting at the Challenger. The driver allegedly used an assault rifle and the back passenger allegedly used two handguns.
The SUV then pulled back up beside the witness, he told police, and a person inside the SUV allegedly began shooting at him with a handgun.
The suspect vehicle was traced back to a woman who identified Hill as one of the people who drove the vehicle. Hill was at the residence where the woman lived, according to the affidavit.
Police found a .40-caliber handgun at that residence, Soto wrote, and it matched the photo of a gun another woman, who reportedly went to see Hoyt the day he died, described to police.
When Bridgforth asked whether Hill would hire a lawyer, he answered: “My family is supposed to hire one for me.”