In the summer of 2023, the life of 40-year-old Harvey Jackson Austin, a White/Caucasian male, was abruptly ended. On the afternoon of Thursday, July 20th, officers from the Hot Springs Police Department were dispatched to a residence in the 700 block of Ward Street following a report of a shooting. Inside the home, they discovered a grim scene.
Austin, along with another man, 40-year-old Joe Nathaniel Hicks Jr., were found deceased.
Both men had sustained what appeared to be fatal gunshot wounds. The discovery launched an immediate and intensive investigation by the department's Criminal Investigations Division.
The investigation quickly led to the identification of a suspect. By that same evening, at approximately 10:30 p.m., authorities located and apprehended 35-year-old Jamieon Katreal Hawkins-Nolen of Hot Springs. Hawkins-Nolen was taken into custody without incident and subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Austin and Hicks. He was then booked into the Garland County Detention Center.
