LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Hours after announcing two arrests in a robbery-turned-murder at a diner on the city’s southwest side, police have now released the victim’s name and revealed that there is a third suspect in the case who has not yet been identified.
The victim has been identified as Harold Byrd, 77, of Little Rock.
Two North Little Rock men identified as Adrian Avery and Marquis Parker, both 21, are jailed in the case. Both are charged with Capital Murder and Aggravated Robbery. Avery appeared in court for arraignment Friday and was ordered held on $1 million bond.
The incident at the Frontier Diner (10424 Interstate 30) happened just before 12:30 Thursday afternoon. Byrd was found shot to death on the floor near the cash register, according to a news release issued Friday by the Little Rock Police Department (LRPD). He had been shot in the head area as he waited to pay his bill. Police said there were also several other customers and employees in the restaurant.
Witnesses told police the suspects came into the restaurant with their faces covered and armed with handguns. The man who fired the shot was armed with a revolver, another witness said.
Police say one shot was fired as they came in the door and it struck the victim, who immediately fell to the ground. The suspects then ran out the door and another witness saw them leave in a vehicle driven by a third man.
Detectives were able to develop Avery as a possible suspect and found him in North Little Rock driving the vehicle seen leaving the scene. Hours later, officers found Parker in North Little Rock. Police say Parker led detectives to a weapon used in the incident.
According to the arrest affidavit for Avery, he told police he drove the other two suspects to the diner and waited in the car. He said he did not know they planned to rob the business and said he thought they might have been picking up a to-go order. Avery told detectives that when the other two suspects returned to the car, one of them told him the gun “went off” when they they tried to rob the business.
The death is Little Rock’s 15th homicide of the year.