In North Little Rock, Arkansas, Christopher Dobbins was known as the loving glue that held his family together. The 30-year-old Black man was a father to a seven-year-old and a younger daughter, and he was eagerly anticipating the birth of a third baby girl he would never get to meet. His family’s world was shattered by his sudden death, with his mother’s cries of “they took my baby” echoing the profound heartbreak of their loss.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, January 17, 2023,
police responded to a call in the 1700 block of East Broadway. Around 3:43 p.m., they found Christopher Dobbins suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The killing marked the third homicide in North Little Rock that year.
The North Little Rock Police Department quickly identified 25-year-old Brandon Jefferson as a suspect. An arrest warrant was issued for Jefferson on charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery. As authorities searched for him, Dobbins’s grieving family made public pleas for the suspect to surrender. Their calls were answered two days later, on the evening of January 19, when Jefferson turned himself in to detectives.
Jefferson was booked into the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility and held without bond. The case later concluded when Brandon Jefferson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Christopher Dobbins.
