By Ray King

A 22-year-old Pine Bluff man who was identified as the suspect in the shooting death of another man Saturday made his first court appearance Wednesday morning in Jefferson County District.

Robert Moore Thomas was identified as the person who shot Edson Jones, 56, whose body was found on the parking lot of the Beech Street Apartments at 2102 S. Beech St., at 2:24 p.m. after police received a call about a shooting.

During the court hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Caleb Conrad said police found a shell casing and a projectile on the parking lot and located a witness to the incident.

Police received a tip that the suspect, later identified as Thomas, was the brother of a man accused in a murder at Ocean’s on East Harding Avenue on Dec. 31, 2019. That person, Michael Alan Moore, is currently awaiting trial on that murder, as well as two additional murders including his mother and another man. Records showed that Moore had a brother, Robert Moore Thomas.

Conrad said when Thomas was arrested, he was read his rights by Detective Natalie McCool and agreed to give a statement.

Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set a $500,000 bond for Thomas after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with first-degree murder and with being a felon in possession of a firearm because of a 2018 conviction for burglary.