On an evening in late April 2019, the sound of a single gunshot shattered the quiet of a home in the 4200 block of Coral Street in North Little Rock. It was approximately 9:18 p.m. on April 24th when police received a 911 call and responded to the residence. Inside, they discovered Ernest McCoy, a 60-year-old Black male, suffering from a gunshot wound to his head.
He was rushed to a local hospital for treatment of the life-threatening injury.
Despite medical efforts, Ernest McCoy succumbed to his injury the following day, April 25, 2019. The investigation into the shooting quickly focused on a man who also lived in the home, 69-year-old Charles Leavy. According to the account of a female occupant of the house, she was in her bedroom when she heard McCoy knocking on Leavy's bedroom door to ask for cigarettes. Moments later, she heard the fatal shot and immediately called for help.
When questioned by detectives, Charles Leavy stated that he had been asleep and was startled awake by loud knocking and yelling at his door. He told investigators that he grabbed a. 22 caliber pistol and fired a shot. Leavy was reportedly unsure if he had opened his door before firing or if he had shot through the closed door. He claimed he only found McCoy on the floor after discharging his weapon.
Detectives located the firearm under Leavy's mattress and found a spent cartridge in the hallway just outside of his bedroom. Leavy was taken into custody and initially charged with first-degree battery, with a bond set at $100,000. Following McCoy's death, the charges against Leavy were upgraded to second-degree murder. This incident marked the third homicide in North Little Rock for that year.
