One of the suspects accused of murdering Pine Bluff business owner Brandon McHan in 2018 is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in August.
An email sent to family members of McHan was obtained by Deltaplex News. That email states that Daryl Strickland, Jr. is scheduled to appear before Judge James Moody at 1 p.m. on August 19, 2022 at the Federal Courthouse in Little Rock.
According to the email Strickland intends to enter a guilty plea.
Strickland and his accomplice, Rodney Henry, were both charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and theft of property. The case made its way to federal courts due to Brandon McHan being a firearms dealer that was shot in his pawn shop. McHan was later pronounced deceased at a local hospital.
McHan was the owner of the Wise Buck Pawn Shop at 2408 S. Camden Road, was shot and taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center on November 12, 2018. He was pronounced dead. An employee of the store, Jason W. Booth, was also shot and taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, then to a Little Rock hospital.
Police obtained video of both robberies and determined that the same suspects were involved in both incidents. With the help of the Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency, those videos were enhanced and released to the media and social media. The federal agency joined in the investigation because McHan was a federally licensed firearms dealer.
On December 3, 2018, the crime lab sent a preliminary report that the shell casing matched one found at the pawn shop, and officers and ATF agents traveled to Camden, where Strickland and Henry were arrested at two separate locations. Following a probable cause hearing December 5th, 2018, Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth ruled prosecutors had probable cause to charge both men and that they would be held without bond.
Strickland and Henry were charged by federal prosecutors in October, 2019. State level charges are typically dropped once federal charges are filed against suspect.
A press release from the Department of Justice said Strickland and Henry were charged with federal crimes because they conspired on November 12, 2018, to rob the Wise Buck Pawn Shop, which was a federally licensed firearms dealer. The indictment charges them with the attempted robbery of the pawn shop and with causing the death of McHan, a pawn shop employee, while carrying a firearm during the attempted robbery. The indictment also charges them with conspiring to rob the Alon Gas Station, robbing the gas station, and using a firearm during the robbery.
The penalty for conspiring to, attempting to, or interfering with commerce by robbery is not more than 20 years imprisonment, followed by a term of supervised release of not more than three years. The penalty for brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence is not less than seven years and not more than life imprisonment, and that term runs consecutively to any other term imposed. The penalty for murder while discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence is any term of years, up to life imprisonment, or death. Each crime charged carries a fine of up to $250,000.
