By Ray King
A Pine Bluff man convicted of murder and other offenses failed to convince the Arkansas Court of Appeals that the trial judge should not have allowed evidence recorded on a cell phone.
Rickey Howard Jr., now 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, committing a terroristic act and firearms enhancements and is currently serving a 190 month prison sentence.
Howard was convicted in the shooting death of Calvin Kirklin on Jan. 8, 2022 as Kirklin sat in a car at an apartment complex. A car belonging to Roderick Marks Jr. pulled up beside Kirklin’s car and three males got out of Marks’ car, walked to Kirklin’s car and started shooting.
Police initially identified Marks Jr., Rahn Clay and Steven Grady as suspects. Grady contacted police and turned over a cellphone video recording of the murder. In that video, a male voice is heard saying they were going to rob Kirklin. After the shooting, a female voice is heard calling our “Where Rickey go?” A male voice is then heard saying “Rick – come on cuz.”
The female was identified as Shakirah Stennis, whose live-in boyfriend was Howard. He was also the father of her two children. When she was questioned, she confirmed that Howard was one of the three gunmen.
Marks, Clay, Grady, Stennis and Howard all faced charges for capital murder, aggravated robbery and committing terroristic acts. The four other defendants pleaded guilty to reduced charges and/or lesser sentences.
Howard left the state after learning police were looking for him and was found two years later and returned to Arkansas.
He is serving his sentence at the East Arkansas Regional Unit and will be eligible to apply for parole in December 2021.
