FAYETTEVILLE -- Jury selection is underway in the murder trial of a Lowell man who is charged with shooting two people in Springdale more than two years ago.
Franklin Antonio Soto-Ramos, now 23, is charged with one count of capital murder and one count of attempted capital murder the shooting in a McDonald's parking lot around 3 a.m. June 22, 2019.
Police officers were flagged down at the Kum & Go, 1260 E. Robinson Ave., and were told there was a shooting in the nearby McDonald's parking lot, according to a news release from police.
Police found Alexander Ascenio, 18, and Juan Carlos Bahena-Garcia, 20, with gunshot wounds in the restaurant's parking lot. Ascencio was pronounced dead at the scene, while Bahena-Garcia was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses told police Ascencio, Bahena-Garcia and a third man in a wheelchair entered the parking lot and aggressively approached a group of people who were standing around their cars. Gang signs were "thrown," the witnesses said. A physical fight ensued. Then shots rang out, witnesses said.
One witness told police Soto-Ramos' brother was punched in the face. Franklin Soto-Ramos then got a gun from a nearby car and started shooting at the victims before he fled the scene, witnesses said.
Soto-Ramos was tracked through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana by pinging a cellphone belonging to Soto-Ramos' girlfriend, who was with him. Police believe Soto-Ramos was trying to reach family in Indiana.
Soto-Ramos was arrested outside Indianapolis, according to Springdale police. He was returned to Northwest Arkansas and jailed, where he has remained since.
Soto-Ramos also faces a battery charge related to an altercation in the jail last year.
Capital murder, if convicted, is punishable by either life in prison with no possibility of parole or the death penalty.