Update (June 17, 2015):
NEWPORT, AR – A local man has been found guilty of a child’s 2013 murder.
Robert Reese Friar, 37, was convicted today in a Jackson County courtroom for the shooting death of Tacquari Briggs, 20 months old.
Today would have been the little girl’s 4th birthday, said Henry Boyce, Prosecuting Attorney for the Third Judicial District, in a news release announcing Friar’s conviction.
Briggs was shot while lying in bed with her mother and brother as Friar fired shots into the home from outside. Delana Aquirre suffered three gunshot wounds but survived the shooting that took her daughter’s life.
Friar was convicted of one count of Capital Murder, two counts of Attempted Capital Murder and seven counts of Committing a Terroristic Act. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 165 years.
“This was an extremely violent crime which involved 16 witnesses and eight days of trial. The jury’s verdict hopefully sends a message that gun violence will not be tolerated in the Third District,” said Boyce.
Original story (March 1, 2013):
NEWPORT, AR – Police have released more details, including the suspect’s name, in the shooting that left a 20-month-old baby dead.
According to Newport Police, Robert Friar, 35, shot into the bedroom of a home in the 1700 block of Daughtery Street around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Police say Delana Aguerre Roddy, 21, was shot at least 3 times in the torso as she slept in the room with her baby daughter, who suffered a fatal gunshot wound.
Several attempts were made to save the girl, but they were unsuccessful.
Newport Police received a 911 call from a woman telling dispatchers that someone had shot her daughter and granddaughter multiple times through the window of their bedroom.
The toddler was pronounced dead at the hospital. Roddy was airlifted to UAMS in Little Rock, listed in critical condition at the time, but has since been upgraded to stable.
According to an affidavit released on Friday, Roddy told investigators she and Friar had been in a relationship and that she had been threatened by Friar recently, noting a text message from him telling her to “kiss her mom and kids goodbye.”
