ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Police in Arkansas arrested two people wanted in connection with a drive-by shooting that killed a 14-year-old in Anderson County.
The Trumann Police Department said a wanted vehicle from South Carolina was spotted on a license plate reader camera Tuesday afternoon and was stopped by law enforcement.
“Any time somebody drives past the cameras, it takes a photograph of their vehicle and the tag number,” explained Trumann Police Chief Jonathan Redman. “If the tag is wanted for anything from a stolen vehicle, to warrants, to maybe a stolen tag, it will alert us. That’s exactly what happened. The vehicle drove past the camera, and it alerted our police officers who got their alert on their cell cellphone. They responded to the location. We verified that the warrants were valid.”
Police arrested 19-year-old Anthony Howard of Williamston and 37-year-old Grace Smith of Piedmont.
Both Howard and Smith were wanted on charges of manslaughter and discharging firearms into a dwelling.
“We were happy our technology worked,” said Redman. “We were happy to be able to bring [Howard and Smith] in. It’s very important for law enforcement functions to work together. We were happy we could help [the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office] out. They would do the same.”
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said the charges are in connection with the death of 14-year-old Elijah Sergent.
7NEWS previously reported that Sergent was shot and killed by a stray bullet that flew inside his home in Belton.
Arrest warrants said the GPS on Howard’s vehicle traced the route to and from the incident location at the time of the shooting. Warrants also stated Smith told a family member “that she fired into the dwelling.”
Investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office are still working to determine a motive for the shooting.
Officers located a 12 gauge shotgun in the vehicle during their arrest.
Both are being held in the Poinsett County Detention Center awaiting extradition.
