A Pine Bluff teenager accused in the shooting death of another teenager in March is being charged as an adult. Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter charged MacArthur Eans, 16, with capital murder stemming from the March 22 death of Parius Hicks, 18, whose body was found in the street at West 38th Avenue and Hazel Street after police responded to a report of a man down. Jefferson County Coroner Chad Kelley pronounced Hicks dead at the scene and listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head.
Eans, who will be 17 on June 11, is currently on probation in juvenile drug court, according to information from the probable cause affidavit cover sheet. He is being held at the juvenile detention center with no bond; if convicted of capital murder, he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole
Eans was identified as a suspect after a witness reported seeing him walking with Hicks and another teenager in the area of Oak Park Elementary School. According to a probable cause affidavit from Pine Bluff Police Detective Steven Rucker that was presented at a probable cause hearing for Hicks, police located the teenager seen walking with Hicks and Eans and he was interviewed with his father present. Because of his age, the Commercial is not reporting the teenager’s name.
He said he was with Hicks and Eans and that Hicks was planning on hitting some licks and they were going to walk with him. The term “hitting some licks” means committing some type of crime, such as robbery or burglary.
The teen said Eans asked Hicks for his gun and Hicks gave it to him, and while the three were walking, Eans got behind Hicks and shot him in the back of the head. He said he and Eans ran but Eans went back, got Hicks’ wallet out of his pocket, and came back running north on Hazel Street, throwing the contents of the wallet as he ran.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Rucker said in the affidavit that the teenager said he and Hicks went to a house on Cherry Street because they knew the family that lived there. He said he stayed a short time before leaving, but Hicks stayed and still had the gun in his backpack. After interviewing the teenager, Rucker said police went to the house on Cherry Street, where they located two juvenile females and brought the two, with their mother, to the detective office for statements. One of the girls told police that Eans and the other boy came to their house and told her “they took care of Parius.”
Both girls also said that Eans showed them the gun that he had and identified it as belonging to Hicks. Deputy Prosecutor Cymber Gieringer, who handled the court hearing, said police also were told that Eans and Hicks had been involved in some type of feud and that Eans had reportedly threatened to get Hicks.
Eans’ mother brought him to the detective office, and both signed and initialled the rights form, indicating they understood those rights. Eans allegedly admitted the shooting but said it was an accident. He said he thought the gun was on safe and was playing when he pulled the gun up behind Hicks’ head and pulled the trigger.