On the evening of March 23, 2019, a confrontation in the parking lot of the Spanish Jon Apartments in Little Rock, Arkansas, ended the life of 23-year-old Alvin Walls Jr. The young Black man was fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire. When police officers arrived at the scene, they did not find a victim, but soon learned that Walls had been taken to CHI St.
Vincent, where he was pronounced dead.
The events leading to the fatal shooting began when a man, later identified as 26-year-old Jermaine Brown, called 911 to report that another vehicle had blocked him in the apartment complex's parking lot and that someone from that vehicle had started shooting at him. In response, Brown, who was armed, fired back. It was during this exchange that Walls was struck by gunfire. The scene was described by a Little Rock Police Department spokesperson as large, with indications that shots had been fired back and forth.
Following the incident, Jermaine Brown turned himself in to the authorities. He maintained that he had acted in self-defense. The police launched an investigation, interviewing multiple witnesses and reviewing security footage from the apartment complex to piece together the sequence of events. After a thorough review of the evidence gathered by the Little Rock Police Department, the Pulaski County prosecutors determined that Brown's actions were justified as self-defense.
The account provided by Brown was found to be consistent with the 911 call he made and was corroborated by witness statements and the available security footage. As a result of the investigation's findings, prosecutors concluded that Brown would not face any charges in connection with the shooting death of Alvin Walls Jr. The case was officially ruled as a justifiable homicide.
