In the late afternoon of February 13, 2019, the community of Stuttgart, Arkansas, was shaken by an act of violence that claimed the life of 20-year-old Zyrique Shy'Quon E-Lee 'Zack' Geans. An African American male, Geans was fatally shot in the Rock Island neighborhood around 2:32 p.m. The incident drew immediate attention from law enforcement, who quickly began an investigation into the deadly shooting.
Shortly after Geans' death, two individuals, Chyvontae L.
Powell and Keenen Hudson, were taken into custody in connection with the homicide. Both men were subsequently charged with first-degree murder. The legal process that followed would span several years, keeping the case in the local spotlight and the community awaiting justice. The case against the two suspects moved forward, with court proceedings scheduled to determine their roles in the events that led to Geans' untimely death.
In August of 2022, a significant development occurred in the case when Chyvontae L. Powell pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder. For his role in the shooting, Powell was sentenced to 30 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. He was given credit for the time he had already served in custody since his arrest in 2019. The following year, in January 2023, Keenen Hudson stood trial. Eyewitnesses testified to seeing Hudson firing a handgun from a purple Chevrolet Camaro towards the residence where Geans was located. Physical evidence, including shell casings found at the scene and inside the vehicle, as well as gunshot residue on Hudson's clothing, supported the witness accounts. A jury found Hudson guilty of capital murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional 15-year enhancement for the use of a firearm. The Arkansas Supreme Court later affirmed his conviction and sentence in September 2025.
