Brent William Perry Scrimshire, a 33-year-old White/Caucasian male, was a Hot Springs police officer whose final shift unfolded on the evening of March 10, 2020. Around 6:30 p.m., he initiated a traffic stop in the 100 block of Kenwood Street in Hot Springs, Arkansas. During the stop, gunfire erupted; Scrimshire and the suspect were both struck. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries.
He had served the Hot Springs Police Department for years and was widely remembered by colleagues and his community for his dedication and character.
What began as a routine stop for a vehicle that had run a stop sign escalated quickly. Investigators said the driver, later identified as 24-year-old Kayvon Ward, initially gave a false name and had a two-year-old child in the back seat without a car seat. Scrimshire directed that someone bring a child seat to the scene, and Ward’s girlfriend, Coraima Hernandez, arrived. As officers attempted to arrest Ward, a struggle ensued; accounts and dashcam observations described Hernandez interfering—one officer said she choked him as Ward broke free—moments before shots were fired. Body cameras did not capture the actual shooting, and both sides later disputed who fired first, but by night’s end Scrimshire was mortally wounded and Ward was also shot.
Arrests followed swiftly, and prosecutors initially charged Ward with capital murder. After a four-day trial in July 2022, a Garland County jury found him guilty of first-degree murder along with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of a defaced firearm, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental operations, and fleeing. The next day the court imposed two consecutive life sentences. Hernandez later pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of battery, and hindering apprehension for her role at the scene; in December 2022 she was sentenced to 34 years in prison.
