In the early morning hours of a Saturday in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a gathering for gambling turned into a scene of violence and tragedy. On May 14, 2016, 26-year-old Andre Eason was at a residence where several people had convened. Among them was Travis Price, a 35-year-old man who, after losing his money gambling, would set in motion a series of events that would end in a man's death.
The night took a dark turn when Price, after leaving the home, returned with two other individuals, all of them armed.
The group's intention was not to continue gambling but to rob the people inside the home. Witnesses later recounted how the men entered and demanded money. In the ensuing chaos, shots were fired, and the demand for money escalated into a fatal encounter. When police were called to the home around 1:00 a.m. to investigate reports of gunfire, they found Andre Eason on the floor, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Pine Bluff police quickly identified Travis Price as a primary suspect, considering him to be armed and dangerous. An investigation was launched, and despite his initial denial of any involvement beyond being present at the residence, the weight of eyewitness testimony built a strong case against him. Five eyewitnesses testified that Price, along with his accomplices, had returned to the home to commit a robbery at gunpoint. One witness specifically recalled a man known as 'Red' or 'Red Nose,' later identified as Price, leaving and then coming back to fire a gun.
Travis Price was subsequently arrested and charged with capital murder, aggravated robbery, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Given his prior convictions for residential burglary and aggravated robbery when he was a teenager, he was also subject to sentencing enhancements as a habitual offender. During a police interview, Price requested an attorney, which terminated the questioning. The evidence presented in court, including the powerful accounts from those who witnessed the robbery and shooting, led to his conviction. For his role in the death of Andre Eason, Travis Price was sentenced to life in prison.
