In the late hours of a Wednesday night in Texarkana, Arkansas, the life of 44-year-old Leroy Davis was cut short by gunfire. On November 2, 2016, at approximately 11:30 p.m., police responded to a call of a shooting at the Beechdale Apartments located in the 2400 block of County Avenue. Upon their arrival, they discovered Leroy Davis, a Black male, who had sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Investigators quickly determined that Davis had not been
alone, believing he was in the company of at least two other individuals, one of whom was thought to be a woman, who had departed before law enforcement arrived. Delving into the circumstances surrounding the shooting, detectives began to suspect the incident was connected to illegal drug activity, suggesting that Davis was at the apartment complex to engage in clandestine drug-related affairs.
The investigation swiftly pointed towards a suspect, 21-year-old Laderick Travelan Johnson Jr. of Texarkana, Texas. Based on witness interviews and evidence collected from the crime scene, an arrest warrant for first-degree murder was issued for Johnson. The search for him was brief, as Johnson voluntarily surrendered to authorities at the Bi-State Justice Building on the morning of November 4, 2016. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Miller County jail on a charge of first-degree murder, with his bail set at $500,000.
Following the arrest, the Miller County Prosecuting Attorney's Office formally filed murder charges against Johnson. The investigation involved search warrants for the apartment where the shooting occurred and two vehicles. During their searches, authorities collected blood samples, bullets, and bullet fragments from the apartment. They also reportedly found marijuana and synthetic marijuana in the residence and methamphetamine in Davis's pocket. This was not Johnson's first encounter with law enforcement, as he had previously faced charges as a teenager in connection with a gang-related shooting in 2012.
