By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Three men from the Sunnyside addition in Jacksonville could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if they are convicted in the capital murder of a North Little Rock gas station clerk.
The clerk, Akika Egeston, was shot Sept. 22 during the aggravated robbery of EZ Mart, 3600 MacArthur Drive.
As of Tuesday morning, a court date had not been set for Davion Howard, 19, Jacobi Robinson, 20, or Maclin Rogers, 20, according to the Pulaski County Circuit Court.
Howard has been connected to a second armed robbery at the Citgo gas station on Marshall Road in Jacksonville later the same evening Egeston was killed.
Sunnyside residents who lived near the suspects didn’t appear to be shocked by the arrests.
One of Robinson’s neighbors, James Anderson, said he didn’t know the accused, but he wasn’t surprised.
“It’s nothing new in Jacksonville,” Anderson said.
Two of Robinson’s neighbors refused to say anything about him or how his arrest has been received in the community.
Another neighbor, who did not give The Leader her name, said she didn’t know Robinson had been arrested, but she said, “I feel fine he’s gone now.”
Robinson was arrested without incident Friday at his residence, 1201 South Road, Apt. D.
The duplex manager at Rogers’ last known address, 1007 Wright St., said she didn’t know anything about the incident. Her office is next door to his residence.
She said, “This is the first time (something like this has happened).”
Rogers turned himself in on Saturday at the Jacksonville Police Department.
Howard of 5 Georgeann Circle was arrested Friday with the help of the State Police during a traffic stop in Texarkana.
As of Tuesday morning, the three men were being held without bond at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility in Little Rock.
North Little Rock police found the clerk’s body at E-Z Mart around 9:12 p.m.
According a news release from the department, Robinson “acknowledged his involvement in the crime and shooting the store clerk.”
Jacksonville police responded to the holdup at Citgo, 120 Marshall Road, around 2:10 a.m. on Sept. 23.
The perpetrator allegedly threatened the clerk with a black handgun. He told her to give him cigarettes and to open the safe.
The clerk ran from the store and wasn’t injured, according to a news release from the Jacksonville Police Department. The robber later fled on foot with an undetermined amount of money.
All of the suspects have criminal histories, according to Pulaski County Circuit Court documents.
Robinson was arrested on Feb. 25 for third-degree domestic battery and violation of a no-contact order.
The victim said Robinson, her ex-boyfriend, was upset with her saying goodbye to co-workers. He grabbed her by the shirt and tried to force her outside. He started to choke her and threw her against a wall, causing her to hit her head. There were scratches on her neck and a bump on the back of her head.
Robinson was later charged with felony aggravated assault.
He pleaded not guilty in June to both the assault and the domestic battery.
Robinson was convicted of the battery charge at a trial in late August. He was not prosecuted for the assault charge.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, which would have ended in August 2013.
Rogers pleaded guilty to felony residential burglary and felony theft of property in April 2011.
He also pleaded guilty to violating probation last month.
For both charges and for violating his probation, Rogers was sentenced to five years of probation that would have ended in 2016.
Howard was scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 25 for a trial concerning a theft-by-receiving charge.
