A Jonesboro teenager was killed Tuesday morning after the man she was purportedly dating shot her at her residence, fled the scene and later killed himself, Jonesboro police said in a statement.
Jonesboro Police Department Lt. Stephen McDaniel said officials responded to a shooting shortly after 10 a.m. at 3106 Ashwood Drive in Jonesboro, where Diamond Ebron, 17, was found dead from "apparent gunshot wounds."
Witnesses told officers that Kenneth Thomas Jr., 26, shot Ebron multiple times with a handgun before driving away in a blue Ford Crown Victoria car, McDaniel said.
When a Craighead County deputy saw Thomas around 10:17 a.m. driving west on Arkansas 226 near Craighead County Road 161, the deputy prepared to initiate a traffic stop, and Thomas quickly pulled over to the side of the road. As the deputy approached Thomas' vehicle on foot, he heard a single gunshot from inside the car before he found Thomas dead in the car from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the statement.
A 9mm handgun, which police say is "consistent with what officers believe to have been used" in Ebron's shooting, was found with Thomas in the car, McDaniel said.