SEARCY (KATV) - Police say a mother was shot at a Searcy apartment complex Friday morning by her ex-boyfriend.
Kelon
Jackson allegedly shot 24-year-old Malhala Hutchins at the St. Charles
Apartment complex around 9:15 a.m. Police found her wounded in the
street. She was taken to White County Medical Center where she died 30
minutes later.
Neighbors told Channel 7 News Hutchins had two young children and had only been living in the complex for a few months.
"I
was surprised," said one neighbor we are referring to only as Matt. "I
mean, this is a good part of town and these apartments are real quiet."
Jackson
was already in the custody of North Little Rock police when Searcy
detectives declared him a suspect. NLRPD had arrested him earlier that
day on unrelated, outstanding warrants.
Searcy police had also
wanted him on previous warrants for terroristic threatening and
harassing communications - both misdemeanors. Officers took him back to
Searcy on those warrants.
The small White County town's first murder of 2013 is also Jeremy Clark's first murder investigation as police chief.
"It's
my first week on the job but I know there's a very capable criminal
division and investigators and crime scene technicians that are more
than capable of handling any type of call," said Chief Clark.
As of Friday night, investigators had not released a motive for this shooting. At last check, Jackson was being held at the White County Detention Center in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
