On a summer evening in Tucker, Arkansas, the lives of two men were tragically cut short. On June 22, 2018, 34-year-old Trevarland Smith was fatally shot along Highway 15 North. When Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene around 9:00 p.m., they discovered another victim, Rodney Scaife, also 34, who was unresponsive in the driver's seat of a vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound.
Smith, also suffering from a gunshot wound, was found at the location and tragically succumbed to his injuries while being transported to a nearby hospital.
Witnesses at the scene were quick to identify a suspect, 27-year-old Joshua Lasley, who fled immediately after the shooting. This prompted a search by law enforcement. The manhunt for Lasley came to an end on June 27, 2018, when a U.S. Marshals-led Fugitive Task Force, working in collaboration with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Tri-County Drug Task Force, located and apprehended him at a residence in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Lasley was arrested without incident.
Following his capture, Joshua Lasley was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Trevarland Smith and Rodney Scaife. He was held without bond at the W.C. 'Dub' Brassell Adult Detention Center. In March 2023, a jury in Jefferson County Circuit Court found Lasley guilty on both counts of first-degree murder. The court sentenced him to consecutive life sentences for each count, with additional time for firearm enhancements, bringing a measure of justice to the families of the two victims.
