Toddler, man dead after Pine Bluff shooting

Police on watch for retaliation

Pine Bluff police are investigating an apparent drive-by shooting at the corner of East Sixth Avenue and South Mississippi Street that left a Pine Bluff man and a toddler dead, and another man injured.

Police responded to a report of a shooting about 11:30 p.m. April 26 at 1808 E. Sixth Ave. When they arrived, according to a police news release, officers found Terrance Givens, 37, dead of apparent gunshot wounds inside the residence. Givens was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m. Monday by Jefferson County Coroner Chad Kelley.

Kelley said that a 4-year-old girl was transported to Jefferson Regional Medical Center by private vehicle and was pronounced dead by an emergency room doctor about midnight. Both died of gunshot wounds to the upper torso, Kelley said.

Also taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center from the scene was Broderick Givens, 34, who was recovering after surgery for his wounds, said Pine Bluff police Lt. David De Foor.

A police report indicated that investigators found about 30 empty 9mm shell casings in the street and several bullet holes throughout the residence. A witness told police that she was in the bedroom when the shooting began and didn't see who was responsible.

"They were shooting from the street, apparently," De Foor said. "There were shell casings going around the block. The house is a corner house and the shell casings went around the house on both streets."

De Foor said one thing police are wary of is the possibility that the violence may result in more violence due to retaliation.

"Usually when we have a child die, the violence kind of goes in a lull for awhile," De Foor said. "But the family winds up going out for retaliation at some point so, more than likely, if things go by the norm, we'll have a lull for a little bit and then it'll fire right back up."

De Foor said little is known about what prompted the shootings.

"They're looking at a couple of different angles on it," he said. "They don't know if this is going to be a gang-related type of thing or if it's going to be something else because that house, according to the rumors we've heard, had gotten to be kind of a party house, so we don't know if someone got into an argument there or exactly what the deal is."

The incident is the latest in a sudden spate of homicides, four over a four-day period, that have plagued the city after a period of relative calm.

On April 23, police found the body of Armechi Morgan, 26, at his home at 103 Talbot St., dead of multiple stab wounds, police said. Breanna Moses, 26, also of Pine Bluff, was arrested and faces a charge of first-degree murder.

The next day, according to police, Emmanuel Foster, 34, and Jason Anderson, 37, were in a car on West 16th Avenue when both men were shot about 2:40 p.m. Foster died at the scene and Anderson was taken to Jefferson County Medical Center for treatment of gunshot wounds, police said.

Authorities arrested Deric Smith, 33, and Lemiesha Toney, 23, on charges of capital murder and first-degree battery in connection with that shooting.

Assistant Police Chief Ricky Whitmore said he is hopeful that the recent spate of violence in the city isn't a sign of things beginning to heat up after a period of relative calm.

"I said something about that the other day," Whitmore said. "I'm not one to be superstitious but maybe I jinxed it, I don't know. We did pretty good the first part of the year, but then we hit the bottom."

Metro on 05/03/2020

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