In the early morning hours of Monday, April 12, 2021, a call about a "subject down" brought Little Rock police officers to the 2700 block of Wright Avenue. There, they discovered a man suffering from grave injuries. The man, 40-year-old Marlon Anthony Franklin, was still alive when officers arrived, but he succumbed to his injuries before he could be transported to a hospital.
His body was taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy, which would later confirm he died from stab wounds.
Marlon was a beloved son and brother, cherished by his father, Earnest Franklin, and a large family of sisters and brothers. His obituary remembered him as "our beloved" and listed his surviving siblings: Angela Gaines, Sylvia Loving, Joyce Franklin, Montreal Jefferson, and Lamar Franklin. He was also an uncle to several nieces and nephews who mourned his sudden and violent death. While some reports mentioned that Marlon may have been experiencing homelessness at the time of his death, his family ties were strong, and his loss left a deep void.
The investigation into Marlon's murder quickly took on a more sinister dimension. His death was not an isolated event but the final act in a series of terrifying and seemingly random attacks that had plagued Little Rock for months. Investigators soon announced they were tentatively linking Marlon's homicide to three other stabbings that began in August 2020. The attacker, who became known by names like the "Little Rock Serial Stabber" or "The River City Ripper," targeted individuals who were alone in the early morning hours.
The string of attacks began on August 24, 2020, with the murder of 64-year-old Larry McChristian. A month later, on September 23, 62-year-old Jeff Welch, known as "Old School," was found stabbed to death on his own porch. After a pause of several months, the violence resumed with terrifying speed. On April 11, 2021, just one day before Marlon was killed and only a block away, a 43-year-old woman named Debra Walker was brutally attacked. She was stabbed 15 times but miraculously survived.
Debra Walker's survival provided investigators with their only eyewitness description of the killer. She described her attacker as a tall, slender Black male, over six feet in height. This description, combined with the similar method of attack—a knife, used in the early morning hours between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.—led police to officially connect the four cases. The victims appeared to be chosen at random, with no clear connection to each other or the assailant, amplifying the fear within the community.
Following Marlon Franklin's murder, the Little Rock Police Department, with assistance from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, publicly confirmed they were investigating the string of stabbings as the work of a single serial offender. They released the suspect's description and blurry surveillance footage, hoping for a lead. A reward of $20,000 was offered for information leading to an arrest. Despite these efforts and the public's attention, the case grew cold. The killer seemed to vanish as suddenly as he had appeared.
Today, the murder of Marlon Anthony Franklin remains unsolved, as do the murders of Larry McChristian and Jeff Welch. The man who stabbed four people, killing three, has never been identified or apprehended. The attacks ceased after Marlon's death, leaving a community with lingering questions and a family grieving a man taken from them without reason. The case remains open, a haunting reminder of the violent spree that ended one beloved brother's life and shattered the city's sense of security.
