Joshua Backus, 39, a Black male from Little Rock, was shot on the evening of April 5, 2018, after police were called just before 8:30 p.m. to the area of 53rd Street and 5301 Mabelvale Pike. Officers found him unresponsive in the parking lot of a nearby business with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The death was recorded that night as the city’s 13th homicide of the year.
In the months that followed, detectives developed a suspect. On July 15, 2019, while already housed in the Pulaski County Jail on an unrelated matter, 25-year-old Darrius Holmes was served with warrants in Backus’s case. He was arrested and charged with capital murder and possession of firearms by certain persons in connection with the killing on Mabelvale Pike around 8:25 p.m. Authorities reported that the charges were the result of the homicide investigation that began the night Backus was found in the parking lot.
Early reports noted there was no suspect in custody immediately after the shooting, underscoring how the case initially offered few public details beyond the location, time, and Backus’s condition when officers arrived. The later arrest of Holmes marked the first major development made public, but available coverage does not detail a subsequent court disposition.
