SHOOTING OF TEENAGER RULED JUSTIFIED BY PROSECUTOR

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Jefferson County’s prosecutor ruled Wednesday that the death of a 15-year-old boy who was shot by the owner of a Pine Bluff pawn shop was “justified under the law.”

Taron Hopkins was shot by Chuck Smith, the owner of Chuck Smith Pawn Shop at 3621 W. Sixth Ave., on Aug. 16 after Hopkins and two other juveniles tried to break into the business at approximately 11:30 p.m.

In a memo to Police Chief John Howell, 11th Judicial District West Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple said, “The physical evidence of the event was corroborated by the statements of the two youths that accompanied Taron Hopkins in the burglary of the building. Additionally, their two statements support the account of Chuck Smith.”

Smith told police he heard a noise at the back door of the building and, when he opened the back door, saw several individuals standing in front of him, including one holding what appeared to be a tire iron.

“The law is very clear on the use of deadly force,” Dalrymple said in the memo to Howell. “The use of a firearm by Smith was justifiable when faced by an intruder armed with a potential weapon, a tire iron.”

Hopkins was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:15 a.m. of an apparent gunshot wound to the upper body.

“The results are both tragic and deadly,” Dalrymple said. “Also clearly upsetting is the fact that three young teenagers were out and about in the late hours. Taron Hopkins was 15 years of age. It does not require a keen insight to recognize that such an act is an invitation to trouble.

“Both the evidence of the burglary and the statements of the accomplices of the deceased demonstrate that these actions were far beyond a mischievous act of a youth but rather were a planned criminal act,” Dalrymple said, adding that Smith’s actions “are not the subject of criminal prosecution.”

Wednesday afternoon, Dalrymple said he has received the complete case file in the death of Winston Walls Jr., 14, who reportedly kicked in the back door of a house in the Dollarway area on Aug. 23, and was shot by the homeowner, Jimmy Shaw, who had a handgun.

Dalrymple said he is reviewing that file before making a decision on whether the shooting was justified under state law.