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INVESTIGATION CONTINUING IN TUESDAY SHOOTING DEATH

By Ray King/ OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 4:53 PM CDT

Pine Bluff police are continuing their investigation into the shooting death of a man whose body was found in the central part of the city early Tuesday morning.

Jefferson County Coroner Chad Kelley pronounced Donell Eason Jr., 20, dead by at 2:42 a.m. Tuesday.

Kelley said the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the body was sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office at Little Rock for an autopsy Tuesday.

The slaying was the sixth of the year in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County.

Lt. Bob Rawlinson said officers found Eason’s body in the street near Ninth Avenue and Ash Street after responding to a reported shooting at 2:14 a.m.

Rawlinson said Eason’s car, a 1992 Chevrolet Caprice, was found later inside the city limits near the Arkansas River off Colorado Street. It had been burned.

“How it got there and who set it on fire is unknown,” Rawlinson said.

No arrests have been made in the death and no weapon recovered, and Rawlinson said detectives were attempting to develop leads and identify the person or persons responsible, who should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information should contact the Detective Division at 543-5111 or the Crime Hotline at 543-5110 and Rawlinson said a reward may be available for information that leads to an arrest. All calls will be kept confidential.

The homicide was the second that has been reported in the same area of Pine Bluff in less than two years.

On Dec. 27, 2007, Christopher Beavers, 17, of Pine Bluff was found lying on the ground on the east side of Ash Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues. Beavers was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead of multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Cleven Johnson III, then 19, and Tracey L. Gardner, then 27, both of Pine Bluff were charged with first-degree murder in that incident.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Hunter said Johnson and Gardner are currently set for trial beginning May 7.

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