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Thread: Robinson, Lewis, Tolbert and Wilson Sentenced in 2020 AR Murder of Joshua Smith

  1. #1
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    Robinson, Lewis, Tolbert and Wilson Sentenced in 2020 AR Murder of Joshua Smith

    2B47A1F1-01EA-4A79-A894-B7DDBCF032C5.jpg
    Joshua Smith

    937C7E74-6071-4B27-A21A-29AA7A62644E.jpg
    Robinson, Lewis, Tolbert and Wilson


    Bond hearing held for capital murder suspect

    Hearings for four men charged with capital murder in reference to an August, 2020 shooting on Southern Arkansas University’s campus that left Joshua Keshun Smith, 21, dead continued Thursday, with only two of the four defendants present.

    Shaivonn Robinson, 19, was the first to appear, with Katherine Streett, of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, representing him. He did not speak during the five-minute proceeding and appeared as though he may have lost weight in the nearly five months he’s spent in the county jail.

    Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Phillips stated that he received a number of motions last month from Robinson’s attorney. He said he would submit the State’s written responses to those motions by the end of next week. Streett agreed that she submitted the motions and the two attorneys agreed to a continuation; the next hearing for Robinson will be held on Jan. 21.

    Quincy Lewis, 20, appeared after Robinson, escorted into the courtroom and to the seat beside his attorney, Jeff Harrelson of the Harrelson Law Firm in Texarkana. Like Robinson, Lewis did not speak during the hearing. His first bond hearing proceeded, with Lewis’ mother testifying.

    Harrelson asked her a series of questions about her family’s home life and her son. She said her family has lived in their home in Little Rock since May 2006 and that they had multiple relatives who lived within the Little Rock area but none who lived in Columbia County.

    She said Lewis came home from his classes at the Tulsa Welding School around March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He went to work for a construction company, where she says he still retains his job.

    She said Lewis does not own any form of transportation and that he would live with her if released from jail. When asked if there were any firearms in her home, she stated that she is a Concealed Handgun License carrier, but that she could have her firearm placed in another home if that was to be a condition of her son’s release.

    She said Lewis did not get into trouble as a juvenile, that he did not associate with felons to her knowledge and that she did not consider him to be dangerous.

    Phillips questioned her next. He asked her questions about Lewis’ schooling, work and how he was able to get to Tulsa from Little Rock. Mills stated that he would take the bus when he went to Tulsa. She also stated Le’Kamerin Tolbert, her step-son and another defendant in the case, had been the one who drove Lewis to SAU around the time of the shooting incident.

    Phillips asked whether Mills understood the charges Lewis was arrested on, which include capital murder, first-degree battery and aggravated robbery, and whether she would consider someone charged with those crimes to be dangerous. She answered “yes” to both questions.

    After her testimony was complete, the two parties scheduled to recess the bond hearing until Jan. 21.

    Tolbert, 20, and Odies Wilson, 21, who are also charged with capital murder, first-degree battery and aggravated robbery in the case, were not present at Thursday’s hearing. Phillips said Tolbert’s attorney, R. Golden, had a tire blow out on his way to court and that Wilson’s attorney, Ronald Davis, had a scheduling conflict.

    Tolbert’s next appearance is scheduled for Jan. 21, and Wilson’s for Jan. 28.

    https://www.eldoradonews.com/news/20...urder-suspect/
    Last edited by Moh; 06-15-2021 at 01:04 AM. Reason: spacing
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  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Court denies bond for suspect in SAU parking lot homicide

    The 4 men charged of murdering Southern Arkansas University student Joshua Keshun Smith, 21, of Sparkman, in a drug deal gone wrong on the campus last August, are still facing the death penalty.

    “These are serious charges. It doesn’t get any more serious than capital murder,” said Ryan Phillips, deputy prosecuting attorney for Columbia County, on Thursday.

    The comment came during courtroom negotiations between TexARKana attorney Jeff Harrelson, who is representing suspect Quincy Isaiah Lewis.

    “I’m also going to note that Lewis is from Little Rock but for some period of time he lived in another state, Oklahoma. At this time the state is going to request no bond,” Phillips told Circuit Court Judge David Talley.

    No bond was granted for Lewis, 20, the only man accused in the shooting death who did not attend SAU and who was not on the football team. Lewis is a half-brother to another suspect, Le’Kamerian Tolbert, 21, also of Little Rock.

    Others accused are Odies “Odie” Wilson IV, 21, of North Little Rock, and Shivonn “Shakey’ Robinson, 20, of Vacherie, LA.

    Harrelson was making an argument for Lewis that his mother, Sabrina Mills, an elementary school teacher, could watch over her son if he were to make bond and live with her again in Little Rock until the trial date is set. There is a moratorium on trials set down by the Arkansas Supreme Court until February 26. The moratorium is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We’ve heard testimony from his mother that she would make sure he would not get into trouble,” Harrelson said.

    Judge Talley said the court did take into account what Lewis’ mother could possibly do in the future but still denied the request.

    “If he was away from home with individuals involved with this I don’t believe that was with his mother’s knowledge,” he said.

    Talley said he did not want to inconvenience Harrelson, Lewis or Lewis’ family by scheduling their next day in court due to the unknown date trials could take place.

    “Let’s hope this lifts soon Mr. Lewis,” Talley said. “I’m going to do my best to make this happen as soon as I can.”

    Robinson was also in court with his attorney Katherine Streett, a lawyer for the Arkansas Public Defender Commission. Streett has defended many capital cases in Columbia County. On Thursday, Streett filed 28 motions.

    Some of the motions were approved, some approved in part and others denied.

    “I would say most of the options filed by here were things the defense wants to be addressed in a capital murder with a potential death penalty,” Phillips said. “I don’t think anything caught us off guard and we responded to the motions. It’s pretty early in these cases, and other attorneys haven’t filed their motions yet.”

    One of Streett’s motions had to do with the fact that she claimed the state had “capriciously imposed,” the death penalty option, meaning it had been forced it into place.

    Talley denied the motion.

    Talley approved a motion from Streett to make sure doors are shut during court to prevent jurors from hearing something they shouldn’t about the case.

    “We want to avoid the jury from running into witnesses and overhearing comments that are made,” Streett said.

    She estimated the case would not be ready to go by the spring.

    “Perhaps in March we will have a much better idea of a status of a jury trial,” she said.

    Tolbert appeared with his attorney, Robby Golden of Little Rock. Golden said he was hoping to make a motion hearing for a pretrial release.

    Golden said he would like to have a Zoom meeting so everyone that needed to be involved in the hearing could be without fears of COVID-19. He said he expected the Zoom meeting to go for about an hour and a half.

    (source: magnoliareporter.com)
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Trial date set for SAU shooting suspect

    By Rhett Gentry
    The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

    MAGNOLIA -- A judge has scheduled a trial for one of the people accused in the shooting death of a student on the Southern Arkansas University campus in August 2020.

    A trial for Odies Wilson IV of North Little Rock is scheduled for Jan. 10-24, 2022, with a break on Jan. 17 in recognition of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Judge David Talley Jr. set.

    Wilson, who was 21 at the time of his arrest, is one of four men accused in the fatal shooting of Joshua Smith in the Reynolds parking lot of the Southern Arkansas University campus and the non-fatal shooting of another person in a marijuana deal, according to a police affidavit.

    All four defendants are charged with capital murder, first-degree battery and aggravated robbery in the Aug. 11, 2020, death of 21-year-old Joshua Keshun Smith, an SAU engineering student from Sparkman, hours before the start of the first day of fall courses. All four have pleaded innocent.

    Prosecutors have said they are considering whether to pursue the death penalty.

    The other suspects are Shaivonn Robinson of Vacherie, La., Le'Kamerin Tolbert of Little Rock and Quincy Lewis of Little Rock.

    Three of the suspects -- Wilson, Tolbert and Robinson -- were associated with the Southern Arkansas football program, SAU officials have said.

    The killing was the first-ever homicide on the SAU campus.

    Information for this article was contributed by staff members of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

    https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2021/...-suspect/?news

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    January trial date set for suspect in SAU murder case

    Magnolia Reporter

    A jury trial date has been set for January 10-21 for Quincy Lewis, 1 of 4 men charged in murdering Southern Arkansas student Joshua Keshun Smith, 21, of Sparkman. Lewis was in court with his lawyer last week with his attorney, Jeff Harrelson of TexARKana.

    13th District Court Judge David Talley asked Harrelson if Lewis would like to enter a plea offer.

    “We are obviously open if the state wants to make an offer,” Harrelson said. “We obviously would entertain that.”

    John Pickett of TEXarkana has been named co-counsel for Lewis.

    Harrelson said the reason for this is because any case that is a death penalty case the defendant is entitled to two lawyers, a mitigation specialist and a fact investigator.

    “These are nationwide American Bar Association guidelines for capital cases,” he said.

    In May, another man charged in the August murder, Odies Wilson, appeared in court and a jury trial was set. Wilson’s trial will take place before Lewis’ trial.

    In other court business last Thursday, the jury trial for Charles Wayne Jones was set for July 19-20. Jones plead guilty to driving while intoxicated and having a wreck in Magnolia on December 22, 2019, which ejected his 3-year-old daughter from the vehicle and killed her.

    Talley wanted Jones to understand what allowing a jury to sentence him of negligent homicide meant.

    “You do understand the sentence of the jury could be worse than what the state offered?” Talley said.

    Jones indicated he did understand.

    Jones’ blood alcohol after the accident was .10 and he also had marijuana in the car.

    In another case, Harlen Parker’s probation was stripped of his probation and sentenced to 3 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and given suspended imposition of Sentencing for 3 years.

    “I’m sorry your honor, I let you down,” Parker said.

    Parker put his head down his hands briefly while the verdict was read. He apologized to Talley about not completing rehab at Bar-J Ranch in El Dorado.

    “I don’t really know what else I can do,” Talley said before sentencing Parker, 29. “When the drug rehab didn’t work you didn’t go back to jail.”

    Parker was last taken into custody May 27 in the Magnolia Walmart parking lot in relation to an incident that occurred that morning, as well as previous incidents in Union County and El Dorado.

    Also Thursday, Laniah Anderson, charged with criminal mischief, was ordered to pay over $4,000 in restitution for keying a vehicle on September 23, 2020.

    http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news...748202a55.html

  5. #5
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    Edited:

    State won't seek death penalties in SAU homicide case

    By Becky Bell
    Magnolia Reporter

    The state has decided not to seek the death penalty against the four men accused of killing Southern Arkansas University student Joshua Keshun Smith on a university parking lot in August 2020.

    The death penalty had been on the table previously, but Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Phillips said during the October 5 Circuit Court session that would not be the case with two men on that day’s docket, Le’Kamerin “Kam” Tolbert and Quincy Isaiah Lewis.

    Lewis, of Little Rock, and Tolbert, also of Little Rock, are half-brothers.

    When contacted after court, Phillips confirmed none of the men will be facing the death penalty.

    Each man accused will have their own trial and their own jury. The other two men accused in the murder are Shaivonn “Shakey” Robinson of Vacherie, LA, and Odies Wilson IV of North Little Rock.

    Lewis is the only man accused in the shooting death who did not attend SAU and was not on the football team. Texarkana attorney Jeff Harrelson is representing Lewis.

    During the recent court date in Judge David Talley Jr.’s courtroom, Phillips said the mental evaluation about Lewis’ ability to proceed to trial was back and he was found competent by the state mental hospital.

    Talley asked Phillips how long he estimated the trial to be, and he said three days.

    “I have not gotten Mr. Harrelson’s estimation on how many witnesses they will have,” Phillips said.

    Talley asked about scheduling the trial and Harrelson said he engaged in a capital murder trial in Bowie County that would continue this fall and end as the holiday season begins. Harrelson asked if the trial could be set for this January.

    Talley said the Lewis case would be back on the docket on January 5.

    Also, Tolbert appeared with his attorney, Robby Golden of Little Rock. Tolbert has also been found fit to proceed in trial after a mental evaluation from the state hospital.

    Phillips also told Talley that three days would be a sufficient time for this trial. Talley suggested the dates of November 28-30, but Golden said he had a conflict with a couple of things he didn’t feel as he could move at that time.

    “Well, there is not another three days before the end of the year between Christmas and New Year’s and I think it’s a bad idea to bring a jury in between Christmas and New Year’s,” Talley said.

    Golden said he was not elected but he agreed with that.

    “I’m not elected either,” Talley replied.

    A date of January 23 is being considered for the start of the trial, but Tolbert will appear again with Golden in court on December 15 at 1:30 p.m.

    https://www.magnoliareporter.com/new...165defc4f.html


    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
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    Odies Wilson was sentenced to 60 Years on 3/2/2023

    https://apps.ark.org/inmate_info/sea...c457fbfffc32e4
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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    Final SAU homicide suspect receives total of 37 years in prison

    By Becky Bell
    Magnolia Reporter

    The final of the four men involved in the killing of Joshua Smith, 21, who was a senior engineering physics major at Southern Arkansas University, was sentenced by Judge David Talley Jr. last month.

    Shaivonn Anthony Robinson’s capital murder charge was negotiated down to a murder in the first-degree sentence. He also received a battery charge for aiding in the shooting of Smith’s friend, another SAU student, Lucas Sharp, and then time in prison later for escaping the jail during a breakout for a total of 37 years.

    Robinson was the driver of the August 11, 2020 incident which the affidavit from the date describes as a drug deal gone wrong.

    Specifically, the August 16, 2020 affidavit lists marijuana as the reason that two groups of men met early that Tuesday morning in the parking lot on August 11, the first day of the 2020 fall semester.

    Robinson, whose nickname is “Shakey,” also received 35 years of suspended imposition of sentencing.

    Robinson, of Vacherie, LA and was on the SAU football team at the time of the murder.

    Theresa Ngantchie, Smith’s mother, has appeared in court for each of the young men’s sentences but this time she didn’t bring her written speech with her, and instead just spoke to Robinson from her heart.

    “All y’all were young, and my son was going to graduate as a physics major and I’ll never see him walk across that stage, I’ll never see him get married, I’ll never have grandchildren,” she said.

    Ngantchie also mentioned the Protect Arkansas Act where people convicted of 18 of the most violent felonies in state code, including rape and capital murder, will have to serve the entirety of their sentences beginning in 2024.

    In 2025, those that have been found guilty of serious crimes including second-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault will have to serve 85 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for supervised release.

    “I wish the Arkansas Protection Act were in place, it may sound harsh, but I believe in it,” she said.

    Robinson was joined by his two attorneys, Kate Street of Little Rock and Lott Rolfe of North Little Rock. Due to the case beginning as a capital murder case, Robinson was assigned two attorneys in the beginning of the case.

    Robinson was given a chance to address Ngantchie in the courtroom as well.

    “I pray daily for his family,” he said. “I pray for forgiveness every night, but I can’t bring him back.”

    Before Robinson was taken back to the jail, Talley spoke to Ngantchie, and told her he was glad she had found a way to make it through something like this.

    “I don’t know how you could, but hopefully this will give you some closure for you,” Talley said. “I know you know where to find peace and I just take some comfort that you know where to draw your strength.”

    Outside the courtroom, after the sentence was handed down, Ngantchie was approached by Robinson’s grandmother and mother who hugged her and cried, letting her know how sorry they were about what had happened to her son.

    “They said they had wanted to talk to me from the beginning, but they didn’t know what to say,” Ngantchie said.

    Odies Wilson IV, of Little Rock, who admitted to being the shooter in court when asked directly during his sentencing, received a total 60-year prison sentence. Le’Kamerin “Kam” Tolbert, of Little Rock received a 30-year prison sentence by Talley. Quincy Isaiah Lewis of Little Rock received a 55-year sentence. Tolbert and Lewis are half-brothers. Wilson, Tolbert, and Robinson were members of the SAU football team at the time of the crime.

    Lewis was not an SAU student.

    The shooting was the first incident of its kind in the history of the more than 100-year-old university.

    https://www.magnoliareporter.com/new...f7efb5ea8.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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