A former Little Rock firefighter whom doctors say was insane when he fatally shot a man at a restaurant saw his $500,000 bail lowered to $75,000 Tuesday after his attorney complained jailers were not properly attending to his medical needs.
Charged with second-degree murder and first-degree battery, Ahmad Salaam, who has a long history of mental illness, can only live with his father Tauheed Salaam if he's released from the Pulaski County jail and cannot leave the house unless he gets a job and has to go to work, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson ruled.
Ahmad Salaam, 41, has been in custody since his January 2019 arrest in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting of Justin Ryan Foster, 31, of Bauxite after their fight at La Michoacana restaurant and ice cream shop at 5420 Baseline Road in Little Rock.
The entire encounter between the men, including the moment that Foster was killed, was recorded on the restaurant's security cameras, according to police.
Salaam also was shot, and police arrived to find him performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Foster although the younger man had already died. A woman outside the eatery, Maria Briseno-Gonzalez, was wounded by a bullet fired during the fight between the men. The pistol, Foster's gun, was lying on a counter when officers arrived.
Salaam has schizoaffective disorder, a condition that combines the hallucinations of schizophrenia with a mood disorder, such as depression or bipolar disorder.
He spent about a year in the Arkansas State Hospital before doctors concluded he was in the grip of a mental breakdown and that he could not tell right from wrong when he shot Foster, an ordained minister, firearm enthusiast and volunteer firefighter with the Sardis volunteer department.
The mental evaluation concludes that Salaam is incompetent to stand trial, but the final decision is up to the judge. Prosecutors are consulting a doctor about whether to challenge those findings.
Discharged from the State Hospital, Salaam has been back in jail for about a month, and has not been receiving his medication, which includes regular injections, like he should, defense attorney Ron Davis told the judge, pointing to medical testimony that Salaam received his first injection Monday, although it had been due almost two weeks earlier.
Davis further complained that jail doctors had performed a medical assessment on Salaam when he was returned to jail but they had done so without knowing what his treatment regimen had been while he was hospitalized.
The judge also heard testimony from Salaam's father who said his son had been an up-and-coming firefighter rising through the ranks of the department for 10 years until his mental health problems ended his career about 2013.
One brother, Tauheed Salaam Jr., 47, has been a Little Rock police officer for 23 years while the other, 48-year-old Naim Salaam, is a battalion chief for the Fire Department. Both have promised to help him watch out for Ahmad Salaam if he is released from jail, the senior Salaam testified.
Deputy prosecutor Melissa Brown expressed concerns about Salaam's release, describing him as a danger to himself and others, pointing out how an aggressive Salaam provoked the fatal confrontation with Foster who had just gone to the restaurant to get something to eat.
Testifying Tuesday, homicide detective Erik Temple said surveillance video shows Foster driving up to the restaurant and getting out of his car. The recording is the "most important" piece of evidence, Temple told the judge.
Salaam, who was on foot, approached Foster but the younger man moves around him, apparently trying to avoid Salaam, and walks into the eatery, the detective said.
Salaam followed Foster inside and can be seen talking to him as Foster stands in line. There is no audio so police don't know what was said, but the encounter heats up with Foster lifting his shirt to show Salaam his gun, the detective said.
Salaam punched Foster in the face, knocking him to the floor, where the men grapple before the gun comes out and the shooting starts, Temple told the judge.
The moment Foster was killed is clearly shown on the recording, the detective testified, describing how the younger man immediately collapses when he was shot. Salaam also was wounded and officers' microphones recorded him telling police that Foster fired the gun first.
Salaam spent a day in the hospital before being jailed. He declined to answer detectives' questions about what had happened.