A judge on Tuesday ordered a Jacksonville teenager be held without bail in the fatal shooting of a man during a robbery early Sunday in North Little Rock.
A preliminary innocent plea was also entered during a video hearing in North Little Rock District Court for Robert Harris, the 17-year-old facing aggravated robbery and capital murder charges in the death of Michael Cook, 28.
Cook died after police found him in the road near Campbell Road and Whippoorwill Lane suffering from at least one gunshot wound.
Police said in an arrest report that a witness told investigators he, Cook, Harris and another man were listening to music in a car before Cook left and Harris followed. The witness reported hearing shots fired a short time later.
A second witness said he saw Harris holding Cook at gunpoint and later shooting him multiple times before fleeing on foot, the report said.
Harris denied shooting Cook, but told authorities he was "present during the incident," the report said.
Harris spoke briefly during the video hearing, answering affirmatively to Judge Jim Hamilton's questions about whether he understood the charges against him and whether he wanted a public defender appointed. Hamilton appointed the public defender, who entered a "not guilty" charge, and then heard brief arguments on bail.
Prosecutors said Harris should not be given any bail because he has "violent tendencies," having previously been charged as a juvenile with terroristic threatening and disorderly conduct after "threatening to shoot an unspecified group of people." He then did not appear in court on those charges, officials said.
Harris' parents appeared in person in the courtroom, standing beside the video screen in front of the judge where Harris appeared from the jail. His father, who declined to give his name to a reporter after the hearing, told Hamilton his son was never notified of the court date he missed. He referred to those charges as "the school incident" and said it was a misunderstanding.
"He's not a bad person," Harris' father told the judge. "He's just made some wrong choices ... He's just a kid."
Hamilton responded that Harris is facing serious charges, including capital murder, before ruling he be held without bail. The judge said he could request a bond hearing later to seek one.