Camden police are searching for a second suspect in the Friday night shooting death of a grocery store manager.
Camden Police Chief Boyd Woody said Tuesday that Jaquestin Anderson, 20, is wanted for capital murder and aggravated robbery in the killing of Richard Anders, 63. Police arrested 19-year-old Austin Hill on Sunday, saying he shot Anders once in the chest and stole a bag of money from him in the parking lot of Mac's Fresh Market near downtown.
Woody said Anderson, an employee at the store, and Hill were friends and that Anderson had "tipped Hill off about when he should come and steal the money."
Anders routinely made deposits for the store in the evenings, the chief said.
Anders was walking to his vehicle with another employee when Hill approached him and fired once at his chest with a .40-caliber Glock pistol, Woody said. Hill then ran behind the store with a bag of money containing about $13,000, Woody said. The other employee was not injured.
Anders died a short time later at Ouachita County Medical Center.
An investigation that involved the Arkansas State Police and Ouachita County sheriff's office provided "enough evidence [that] pointed to Hill for us to make an arrest" Sunday, Woody said. Hill is being held at the Ouachita County jail; no bail has been set.
After the killing, Hill used some of the stolen cash to purchase a large-screen television and a video-game system at the Camden Wal-Mart Supercenter, Woody said. His office has recovered most of the remaining cash.
Hill had been under surveillance since Saturday night, and undercover officers observed him playing video games at his Camden home as if nothing had happened, the chief said.
During questioning, Woody said, Hill confessed to killing Anders but showed no remorse or care in his responses to investigators. The chief said Hill implicated Anderson as an accomplice.
"He was emotionless when we arrested him," Woody said of Hill. "We told him we had a capital murder warrant for his arrest, and he said 'OK' and put his hands behind his back."
Anders' death has disturbed Camden, a town of about 11,000 in the heart of Ouachita County. Many wonder how such a violent crime could happen in a mostly peaceful city.
Residents are also perplexed at how Hill, a senior football player on Christmas break from Harmony Grove High School, could commit what police are saying is capital murder.
"It's astonishing to think about," said Camden resident Joe Hankins, who regularly shopped at the store where Anders worked. "It just shows you never really know what is going to happen or when your time is going to be up.
"How someone could do something like this ... how a child could turn to violence like this? I will never understand it. And it makes me angry."
Attempts to contact friends and relatives of Hill have been unsuccessful. He has not been assigned an attorney by the public defender office, Woody said.
In a show of support for Anders' family, between 200 and 300 people attended a candlelight vigil Monday night outside the grocery store where he had worked for many years.
Camden resident Darlene Wheelington, who owns a pet grooming business, organized the event through social media shortly after hearing about the killing. She said she didn't know Anders but wanted to offer a moment of healing for the community.
"I grew up in Camden, and this is what we do," Wheelington said. "We come together when times are hard. This is a healing time for us right now. What happened is just unimaginable. Two lives are lost. Mr. Anders is gone, and that boy's life is over, too. It's just so horrible."
State Desk on 12/24/2014