In the early morning hours of September 28, 2017, a 29-year-old Black male named James Ward from Jacksonville, Arkansas, was fatally wounded in a carjacking incident. The event unfolded around 4:30 a.m. at the Chapel Ridge Apartments located in the 5900 block of McCain Park Place in North Little Rock. Responding to a call about a shooting, Pulaski County deputies discovered Ward at the scene with a gunshot wound to the head.
He was immediately transported to a local hospital for medical attention, but tragically, he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the homicide quickly identified multiple individuals believed to be involved in the crime. Authorities apprehended and filed capital murder charges against three suspects: Terry Miller Jr., who was 26 at the time, 27-year-old Jeffrey King, and Jackie Andrew Jackson, aged 28. A fourth person of interest, Joshua Carngiano, was also sought by law enforcement in connection with Ward's death. Carngiano eventually surrendered to the Boone County Sheriff's Department.
The violent nature of James Ward's death brought attention to the history of criminal activity at the apartment complex where the shooting occurred. Reports indicated that the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office had been dispatched to the Chapel Ridge Apartments 355 times in the two years prior to the incident, raising concerns about the safety and security of the residents. Family and friends gathered to remember James Ward at a homegoing celebration held on October 7, 2017, at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Scott, Arkansas.
