By Ray King
A 17-year-old Pine Bluff teenager is being charged as an adult with second-degree murder following the shooting death of the boy’s younger brother.
Zavier Young was taken into custody after he ran from the scene and was found several blocks away by police, Deputy Prosecutor Jay Gerard said during a court hearing Thursday.
The shooting was reported at 11:23 p.m. at 2705 W. 37th Ave., and when an officer arrived, was met by Young’s mother who led the officer to a room where the brother, identified in the affidavit as Deshawn Young, was found face down on the floor with a bullet wound to the head and bleeding from the mouth.
The boy, 13, was taken to Jefferson Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office Wednesday for an autopsy.
Gerard said a witness to the incident, who is a cousin and a juvenile, told police he saw a laser beam shoot across the room then across his chest and he heard a loud boom.
Zavier was read his rights and agreed to make a statement to the police which Gerard presented to the court.
At the request of Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter, Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set a $200,000 bond for Zavier Young on probable cause of second-degree murder, specifically extreme indifference to the value of human life and admitting he fired a gun in a reckless manner.
In addition to the murder allegation, Young will be charged with aggravated assault relating to the cousin.
