Javon Beal, a 34-year-old man from Wynne, Arkansas, was killed on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, after gunfire broke out in the middle of the day near the intersection of C Street and Fitzhugh Circle. Around 11:50 a.m., the Wynne Police Department began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting in that area. When officers arrived, they found Beal suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was taken from the scene to a local hospital, identified in local reporting as CrossRidge Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The shooting quickly drew the attention of state investigators. At the request of the Wynne Police Department, the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division opened a homicide investigation. Beal’s body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory so officials could determine the formal cause and manner of death, though the circumstances reported by police described the case as a fatal shooting and homicide.
Within a day, authorities identified 36-year-old Edward Lampkin Jr. as the suspect in Beal’s killing. Police publicly sought Lampkin in connection with the shooting death, and the search expanded beyond Wynne. The investigation involved cooperation between Arkansas State Police, the Wynne Police Department, Forrest City police, U.S. Marshals Task Force members, and the 1st Judicial Task Force.
Lampkin was taken into custody around 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at Forest Park Cemetery in Forrest City, roughly two days after Beal was shot. After his arrest, he was transported to the Cross County Detention Center. Authorities reported that Lampkin was being held on charges of first-degree murder and possession of firearms by certain persons.
The case left behind the image of a sudden public act of violence in a small Arkansas community: emergency calls just before noon, officers arriving to find Beal wounded in the street area near C Street and Fitzhugh Circle, and a rapid manhunt that ended at a cemetery in Forrest City. As of the available reports, Lampkin was the only suspect identified in connection with Beal’s death, and no trial or conviction information had been reported.
