On a Sunday in Forrest City, Arkansas, the life of 35-year-old Lavence Jerome Robinson, a Black male, was tragically cut short. On February 12, 2017, Robinson was fatally shot on Annette Street in an act of gun violence that would leave his family and community seeking answers. Known to his loved ones as 'Eggy,' Robinson was a father of three who had deep roots in the community, having been born in nearby Marianna and having accepted Christ at a young age at the Greenwood Missionary Baptist
Church. His death marked a profound loss for his extensive family, including his parents, children, and numerous siblings.
The investigation into Robinson's murder unfolded over the following month, stretching from Forrest City to the northwest corner of the state. The critical break in the case came not from the discovery of a weapon, but from the brave actions of a witness. A woman who possessed an incriminating recording related to the homicide shared this evidence with the Forrest City Police Department. This act of cooperation, however, placed her in grave danger. The suspect in Robinson's killing, identified as 25-year-old Bruce Heard of Forrest City, learned of the witness's cooperation and confronted her.
In Fayetteville, Arkansas, the situation escalated when Heard showed up at the witness's apartment, yelling and threatening her because he believed he was going to be arrested for murder as a result of her actions. During a tense phone call with a Forrest City detective, the witness reported the threats as they were happening. Following this, Fayetteville police were alerted and located Heard, arresting him on March 15, 2017. He was initially held in the Washington County Detention Center on charges of intimidating a witness, domestic battery, and terroristic threatening. Subsequently, he was slated to be transported back to Forrest City to face a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Lavence Robinson.
