On a Monday morning in Texarkana, Arkansas, a young man's life was tragically cut short in an act of violence that police believe was motivated by robbery. Phillip Lee, a 23-year-old male, was discovered in front of his home at the Village Park South apartments on February 3, 2020, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He had been shot in the chest, side, and left wrist. Despite being rushed to a local hospital, Lee succumbed to his injuries later that afternoon. Investigators believe he was targeted for the $3,000 to $4,000 he was thought to be carrying at the time of the shooting.
The investigation into Phillip Lee's death quickly led to the identification of two suspects: Keanu White, 23, and Jucquian Tyson, 22. Within a week of the shooting, both men were in custody. Tyson turned himself in to the police at the Bi-State Justice Center on Saturday, February 8, 2020. Two days later, authorities tracked White to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was apprehended by task force officers. Both men were subsequently charged with capital murder in connection with Lee's death.
The legal proceedings revealed a prior connection between the victim and the accused. Court records indicated that Lee, White, and Tyson had previously been co-defendants in a case involving the burglary of a pawn shop, though those charges were ultimately dismissed. At the time of the fatal shooting, both suspects had pending legal issues. White was on a five-year probation for a robbery conviction from the previous October, and Tyson was out on a $100,000 bond for a robbery he had been arrested for in the prior April. Following their arrest for Lee's murder, both White and Tyson entered pleas of not guilty to the capital murder charges. If convicted, they could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
