Fort Smith Woman Dies After Involvement In Vehicle Shootout

A Fort Smith man fired two rounds from a .380-caliber handgun into the back of a van Saturday because a friend told him he’d been arguing with members of the family in the vehicle, a police officer said.

One of those bullets struckAleya Criswell, 21, of Fort Smith, in the back. She died as a result of the shooting that occurred about 3 p.m.

Jonathan Lewis Jackson, 23, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge. He remained in the Sebastian County jail Monday with no bond.

“You shoot at a vehicle with seven people in it, yourchances of hitting somebody are pretty good,” said Detective Ronald Scamardo of the Fort Smith Police Department.

Scamardo said he didn’t believe the shooter was trying to hit Criswell when he fired the gun. He said there are windows all the way around in the older-model maroonGMC Safari van.

“I don’t know if he was pointing at her,” said Scamardo. “I’m sure it was random. I don’t know what his mindset was.”

The other bullet made it through the metal of the van and was found just inside the vehicle’s back door, he said.

Scamardo said Jacksonwas talking with Steve Derrick Massey Jr., 20, just before the incident. Massey had interceded in an argument between his girlfriend and Criswell on Friday night, the detective said.

The van drove by the two men, and Massey said, “There they go,” according to a prob-able cause affidavit. Scamardo said Massey said something like, “There goes the family of the people I’ve been having problems with.”

At that point, Jackson pulled out a gun and began firing at the van, according to the affidavit.

Jackson then hid the gun under Massey’s sister’s house, according to the affidavit.

The occupants of the vehicle took Criswell to the Sparks Hospital immediately after the shooting, said Scamardo.

The shooting occurred while the vehicle was sitting at the intersection of May and North L streets in Fort Smith, according to an e-mail Saturday from Sgt. Daniel Grubbs,the public information officer for the Fort Smith Police Department.

Scamardo said Massey indicated he was startled when the shooting began.

Massey was also arrested during the incident because he had two outstanding warrants in Sebastian County on charges of battery and terroristic threatening. He was released Saturday on $4,000 bond.

Scamardo said Jackson had no outstanding warrants in Sebastian County.

Formal charges of first-degree murder and committing a terroristic act were filed against Jackson on Monday, according to documents from the Sebastian County prosecuting attorney’s office.

Information for this report was contributed by Dave Hughes of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/01/2013

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