This past weekend rolling out previously reported on a road rage incident that led to the death of a child. As reported previously, Acen King, age 3, was on a Christmas shopping trip with his grandmother, Kim King-Macon when she pulled up to a stop sign. A driver behind her felt she was driving too slowly and fired multiple shots. King-Macon said that at first, she thought the driver fired a warning shot. It was not until she pulled into a shopping center that she realized her grandson had been struck by a bullet. On her agonizing 911 call, she is heard saying, “I was at the stop sign and the guy blew a horn at me and I blew back, and he shot, but I thought it was in the air. He shot at the car!”
After the announcement of a $40K reward by law enforcement a suspect in the shooting has now been arrested. Police are saying that Gary Holmes, age 33, was the shooter and was turned in by a family member after they saw reports and descriptions of the crime and suspect and called the police. U.S. Marshals worked with the parents of suspect Gary Holmes to help facilitate his surrender to Little Rock police on Thursday, Dec. 22. Holmes was booked into the Pulaski County Jail on charges of capital murder and two charges of a terroristic act.
Hiolmes’ arrest has somewhat eased the tensions in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, where the shooting occurred. Police Lt Steve McClanahan has said investigators believe the boy and his grandmother “were completely innocent” and have no relationship with the shooter.
Holmes has an extensive criminal history with Pulaski County Jail stints in 2002 on aggravated robbery and battery arrests.
Sadly, this was the second shooting in less than a month of a child in a road rage incident. On Nov. 22, a 2-year-old girl, Ramiya Reed, was killed in a similar shooting as she sat in the backseat of her mother’s vehicle. That shooting is unsolved at this time, and another $20K reward is being offered by the city of Little Rock in that case. Police have not announced if Holmes is a suspect in both cases.
