By Ray King
A Pine Bluff man accused of shooting another man to death on Friday will be held without bond at the adult detention center while prosecutors prepare formal charges against him.
On Wednesday, Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney ruled that prosecutors have probable cause to charge Iman Tavish Jackson, 31, with capital murder and aggravated residential burglary stemming from the death of Steven Carter, who was pronounced dead of gunshot wounds inside a house at 4316 W. Burnett St.
The death was the 18th homicide so far this year in Pine Bluff and the third in a three-day period.
According to a probable cause affidavit from Detective Michael Merrill, Officer Kristen Pennington was sent to the address in response to a man being shot and when she arrived, was directed to a back bedroom where Carter, 51, was found “curled up in a corner with his back against a tote and he was laying on his right side.”
Pennington reported checking for a pulse and finding a faint one and tried talking to Carter to keep him awake but he was unresponsive. Sgt. Richard Wegner arrived on the scene and he, Pennington and Officer Courtney Kelly took turns doing CPR until the Fire Department and ambulance personnel arrived and took over until ambulance personnel determined that he was deceased.
Merritt reported that there were five people inside the house at the time of the shooting and all five were questioned. The first told Merritt that Carter and two unidentified males had forced their way into the house and went to the back bedroom. The witness said they heard three gunshots and saw Jackson leaving the house and putting a handgun into his pocket. The witness also said they heard Jackson say “Don’t nobody (expletive) with my family. I’m not the one.”
A second witness reported seeing Jackson beating Carter and then pull a handgun out of his pocket and shoot Carter several times.
Three other witnesses, one of whom was Jackson’s brother, gave similar statements to police.
Jackson was located on Monday and was not questioned after he asked for an attorney.
