By Ray King
After deliberating about two hours Wednesday night, a Jefferson County jury found a Pine Bluff woman guilty of capital murder in the 2020 shooting death of her boyfriend.
Circuit Court Judge Rob Wyatt sentenced Leashebia Davis to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a trial that began Tuesday.
Davis, now 43, was accused of shooting Elvis Kendal Jr., whose body was found lying on the ground near the driver’s side door of a vehicle parked at 33rd Avenue and Hazel Street just before 6 p.m. on May 4, 2020. He was taken to Jefferson Regional Hospital where he died during surgery.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police obtained video footage from the Superstop at 31st Avenue and Hazel Street which showed Kendal leave the gas station, followed by a black Jeep Patriot and Ms. Davis hanging out of the passenger window holding something dark in her hand. The video also showed her hand going up in the air and back down straight forward as if she was firing a gun.
A Ruger .380-caliber handgun was recovered when Davis was originally located and the State Crime Laboratory confirmed that shell casings recovered at the scene were fired from that gun. A female witness told police she had loaned the gun to Davis.
Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter said Deputy Prosecutors Maxie Kizer and Joe West represented the state and Davis was represented by attorney Garfield Bloodman.
