A Jefferson County jury Friday found 25-year-old KeShone Smith guilty of first-degree murder in the October 2020 shooting death of former Pine Bluff Police Detective Kevin Collins.
Collins was killed when he exchanged gunfire with Smith on the parking lot of the Econo Lodge on Blake Street while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Smith.
The jury found Smith not guilty on two counts of first-degree battery and late Friday afternoon returned to the jury room to deliberate on his sentence.
First-degree murder carries a sentence of 10 to 40 years or life in prison. Prosecutors had waived the death penalty in the case.
