In the early morning hours of August 20, 2019, the life of 35-year-old Marquita Harris, a Black female, was tragically cut short in her Pine Bluff, Arkansas home. Responding to reports of gunshots in the vicinity of West Hepburn Street around 1:45 a.m., officers from the Pine Bluff Police Department initially found nothing amiss. However, about an hour later, a distressing welfare check call brought them back to the same area, leading them to a grim discovery at the residence Harris shared with
a roommate.
Inside the home located at 4218 W. Hepburn Street, police found Marquita Harris and a man identified as 54-year-old David Heard. Both had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene. The call for the welfare check came from a roommate who had reportedly escaped the residence through a window before contacting the authorities. This individual was questioned by investigators in the immediate aftermath of the double homicide, though no arrests were made at that time.
The deaths of Harris and Heard marked the 19th and 20th homicides in Pine Bluff for that year, causing concern and outrage within the community. Despite the investigation launched by the Pine Bluff Police Department's Detective Division, a motive for the shooting has not been publicly released. To date, no suspects have been officially named or taken into custody in connection with the murders of Marquita Harris and David Heard. The case remains an unsolved and painful memory for a community seeking answers and justice for the two lives lost. Authorities have continued to appeal to the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough in the investigation.
