Little Rock investigators said that it was a hat left near the scene of the crime that led to the arrest Friday of a suspect in a July homicide.
Aulden Thomas, 63, of Conway is set to appear in Little Rock District Court today, according to court officials, after his Friday night arrest on charges of first-degree murder in the July 26 killing of Tanuyna Wilson.
According to detectives, Thomas is the suspect who confronted Wilson outside her 3700 W. 11th St. apartment and shot her several times.
Wilson's neighbors reported hearing gunshots and then the sound of Wilson's screams, and that she was found fatally wounded on a gravel easement outside her apartment with a "surprised" look on her face.
A neighbor told officers that she spotted a suspect walking north on Oak Street from the shooting, and when officers canvassed the area, they found a cap similar to the one seen on the suspect's head.
The black Kangol-style hat was on the side of the road, about 300 feet from where Wilson fell, according to detectives.
The hat, they noted, was dry, while the rest of the grass in the area was "wet with dew," affidavits said.
Just 30 feet from the hat, officers also found a .38-caliber revolver on the side of the street and both items were sent to the state crime lab for testing.
The pistol, according to affidavits, matched with the rounds that were fired at Wilson, affidavits said.
Crime lab technicians were able to pull a DNA sample from the hat and ran it through the national registry of convicted felons, affidavits said, and the DNA matched with Thomas' DNA profile.
Thomas was convicted of aggravated robbery and theft of property in 1992, according to court records, and in March of this year, he was arrested and charged with three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
That case is still ongoing, according to court records.
With a warrant in hand, homicide detectives set upon a home in the 1400 block of South Chester Street waiting for Thomas, and around 5 p.m., Thomas pulled up in a white van.
Detectives took Thomas into custody "without incident," according to detectives, and then found a pistol sitting in the floorboard of the van.
In addition to first-degree murder, Thomas was charged with another count of possession of a firearm by certain persons.
Little Rock Police Department spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen said he did not know whether Thomas and Wilson knew each other.
When asked for a possible motive, or if the suspect's fingerprints were also found on the gun, Allen said that information wasn't available because detectives were still investigating the shooting.
Thomas spent the weekend in Pulaski County jail and remained there Monday night. No bail had been set.
Metro on 08/19/2014