The city of Little Rock announced on Monday that the money for the increased reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of any person involved in Friday's triple homicide was taken from seized funds.
City spokesman Lamor Williams said the city decided to use seized funds from criminal activity to increase the reward amount from $10,000 to $50,000.
City Manager Bruce T. Moore said in a news release on Monday that he hopes an increased reward will encourage tips that lead to an arrest and justice in the case.
"It is our hope that someone will come forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for this senseless act of violence," he said.
Three people -- all 20 years old or younger -- were found about 10:45 p.m. Friday suffering from gunshot wounds in a wrecked vehicle near the 4400 block of West 14th Street, interim Police Chief Alice Fulk said Saturday during a news conference.
Two women in the car were transported to a local hospital, where they died. A man who was also in the vehicle died at the scene. A fourth person, a 17-year-old boy, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in a nearby yard.
The triple homicide was the city's first since July 11, 2017, when a woman and her two children were gunned down in their home.
Fulk identified Kennelle Anderson, LaTija Luckey and Carrington Williams as the three people killed Friday night. Williams and Luckey were Little Rock residents. Anderson lived in Hot Springs, Fulk said.
The city of Little Rock announced on Sunday that the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of any person involved in the triple homicide had been increased.
Lamor Williams said the seized funds are managed by the Little Rock Police Department and the city.
"The funds are taken in by the Police Department, but it all goes to the general fund in the end," Lamor Williams said. "I guess you could say we both control it."
City and police officials were not able to tell the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette how much was in the seized fund as of Monday afternoon, but said they would look into it.
The city offers rewards for information that leads to arrest and conviction in all homicide cases, but Lamor Williams said using seized funds to increase the reward is pretty rare.
"I would say it's a special circumstance," he said. "The last time I am aware we did this was the shooting death of Ramiya Reed."
According to previous stories, the city of Little Rock increased a $20,000 reward to $40,000 for an arrest and conviction in the death of Ramiya, a 2-year-old who was fatally shot Nov. 22, 2016 while riding with in her mother in a vehicle on South Harrison Street.
That same year a $40,000 reward was also offered in the death of 3-year-old Acen King, who was shot Dec. 17 while traveling with his grandmother to the Shackleford Crossings shopping center in west Little Rock.
Suspects in both 2016 cases have been arrested, but Williams said he couldn't speak on if these rewards led to the arrests in both of these cases.
Police spokesman Lt. Michael Ford previously said the department does usually get increased community participation when the reward is increased.
Metro on 11/20/2018