On a cold Saturday morning in February, the life of 19-year-old Anthony Thomas Jr., a Black male, was tragically cut short. On February 9, 2019, he was found deceased in his Maumelle, Arkansas, apartment at the Gables of Maumelle apartments. An investigation quickly determined that Thomas had been the victim of a homicide, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Friends remembered him as a young man with a bright spirit who had a knack for making people laugh and was in the process of discovering his own path in life.
The Maumelle Police Department swiftly launched an investigation into the killing. Their efforts led them to a primary suspect, 19-year-old Jacoby Alston. It was established that Alston and Thomas were acquainted with one another. Within days of the discovery of Thomas's body, investigators took Alston into custody, charging him with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting. The investigation also revealed that a cell phone had been stolen from the victim.
Following his arrest, Jacoby Alston reportedly confessed to the murder of Anthony Thomas Jr. and the theft of his cell phone. Initially, law enforcement officials had indicated they were searching for two other individuals they believed might have been involved. However, they later clarified that one of these individuals, a person who had given Alston a ride, was a stranger who was unaware of the crime and was simply offering a ride to someone they saw walking in the cold. While that person was cleared, detectives still held a belief that one other person may have been present in the apartment at the time of the incident.
