Bail set for Little Rock youth advocate who faces gun, drug charges

Chris Alexander
Chris Alexander

Little Rock youth advocate Chris Alexander remained jailed Friday, a day after his bail was set at $100,000 on weapon and drug charges and his lawyer argued that police had little concrete evidence to tie him to the contraband.

Alexander has been jailed for about a week and a half since his arrest Oct. 24 at a carwash on Daisy Bates Drive where he runs a car-detailing business.

Prosecutors had opposed bail for the 41-year-old, arguing that he should remain jailed until the charges against him are resolved.

Alexander already faces felony fleeing charges from a June arrest on Gum Springs Road. According to an arrest report, police tried to pull him over because the window tint in the red Dodge Challenger he was driving was too dark. A police officer crashed during the pursuit, according to an arrest report.

In arguing against bail, deputy prosecutor Amanda Fields cited the severity of the new charges, which carry a potential life sentence. She also described the former gang member turned community activist as a potential danger to the children who participate in the Better Community and Family Values youth outreach program he founded with Nyle Daniels.

Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner and City Manager Bruce Moore have been described as supporters of the program.

Alexander, who says he is a former Wolfe Street Crips member, did not testify in Thursday's bond hearing, but his attorney, Angela Kendrick, said Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims had little choice under the state and federal constitutions but to allow Alexander an opportunity to make bail, which now totals $152,500. She also questioned the strength of the police evidence.

All of the marijuana, guns or illegal body armor Alexander is charged with possessing was found on another man, 40-year-old Kenya Davis of Banks, Kendrick told the judge. The car in which police found 7 pounds of marijuana and an illegal armored vest does not belong to Alexander, she said.

"There's no firm link to Mr. Alexander. It's all based on speculation," she said.

Kendrick also questioned the propriety of how the police investigation of her client began. The inquiry started with the July shooting death of Alexander's 14-year-old son. Cyncere Alexander was found shot to death in his father's residence at the Valley Crossing apartments on Green Mountain Drive.

No one has been charged in the slaying, which detectives say is rumored to have been either a drug deal gone wrong or a robbery attempt. Also found in the apartment was a grocery sack containing 1.8 pounds of marijuana in a bedroom. In the bag were also several pieces of mail addressed to Chris Alexander.

Kendrick disputed that Alexander could be linked to the drugs, saying police don't know where the drugs came from or who brought them to the apartment.

The only thing officers can know for certain is that "a murderer entered that apartment and murdered his son," she told the judge.

Little Rock police detective Mark Ison told the judge that the investigation into Chris Alexander and Davis began on Aug. 29, the day the men were first arrested together after a traffic stop.

According to an arrest report, Alexander was pulled over at at 12110 Arch St. driving a red Dodge Challenger that appeared to have illegal window tinting. The sheriff's deputy who stopped the car smelled marijuana in the vehicle, and the resulting search turned up an armored vest in the back seat of the vehicle and a small amount of marijuana, according to arrest reports.

Asked why he had the illegal vest, Alexander told Pulaski County sheriff's Deputy Tina McMillan that he had been shot several times before, including once in the head.

Ison said police subsequently put Alexander under surveillance, including setting up a hidden camera outside a storefront leased by Alexander since May at a Jacksonville strip mall on South James Street.

On the day Davis and Alexander were arrested, police saw Davis driving the red Challenger, walking into the storefront empty-handed, then leaving with a black backpack.

When the men were arrested at the Daisy Bates Drive carwash, a black backpack in the car was found containing 7 pounds of marijuana, Ison told the judge. A rifle was also found in the vehicle.

Alexander's wallet, containing the driver's license he was issued in June, was found in the car, as were the keys to the car and the Jacksonville store, the detective said. Facebook photos of Alexander show him with the distinctive key chain, he said.

Police searched the unmarked storefront and found two rifles in a backroom closet, detective Rob Bell testified. Investigators found an armored vest and a crate containing 21.1 grams, about three-fourths of an ounce, of marijuana, Bell testified.

Police also found a photo collage containing several photos of Alexander, he said. One part of the store was set up like a living room, with a pool table and large TV, the detective said.

There were no signs a business was operating at the site, although police found a cable bill for something called "Hood Shirtz," Bell said. Alexander's family said they knew him to operate a T-shirt printing company at the location.

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Metro on 11/04/2017

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