The Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office has charged a 20-year-old man with murder in the death of a 19-year-old who was run over in the parking lot of a west Little Rock shopping center.
Court records show Nathan Gregory Schneider of Little Rock faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of leaving the scene of an accident with injury or death. The man is a suspect in the death of Justin Duft, who died in January after being run over on Dec. 26 in the parking lot of the shopping center at 13000 Chenal Parkway.
A witness told police Duft had approached Schneider's vehicle at the parking lot to apologize for a previous fight, but the situation ended with Schneider running over the victim, court records show.
A separate witness said Duft and Schneider had been arguing over a woman they both were interested in and had previously fought over comments Schneider made to the woman, the court documents show.
Police said Schneider, who was originally arrested on one count of first-degree battery, surrendered to authorities on Jan. 2.
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Pulaski County jail records show Schneider was booked into the jail on Jan. 2 then released on Jan. 5. He was not listed on the Pulaski County jail's inmate roster as of Wednesday afternoon.
Before the charges tied to the Dec. 26 incident, Schneider had never faced felony charges in Pulaski County, according to a search of online court records.
An affidavit said witness Bradley Johnson told police he and Duft traveled to Rock City Vapes on Dec. 26 to meet with Abbie Peters and another woman.
Johnson said he was in his vehicle when he saw Schneider and Duft in an altercation, according to the court documents. He said he then saw Schneider "put his vehicle in reverse and then speed forward and run over Mr. Duft who was lying on the ground."
Peters also spoke with authorities and said she and the other woman left work at Rock City Vapes and got into Johnson's vehicle, the documents show. Peters reported that Duft walked over to Schneider's vehicle to apologize for a previous fight, the documents said.
"Ms. Peters stated that Mr. Duft went to hug Mr. Schneider's girlfriend before leaving and that she punched Mr. Duft in the face," according to the affidavit.
She said Duft started arguing with Schneider and then began punching Schneider in the face, according to the documents. Schneider then backed up the vehicle, causing Duft to fall, Peters said. She said Schneider then accelerated forward and ran over Duft, according to the affidavit.
"Ms. Peters stated that it appeared as if Mr. Schneider intentionally ran over Mr. Duft before leaving the scene at a high rate of speed," the affidavit stated.
Metro on 05/03/2018