Child's honesty leads to a shooting suspect's arrest

JONESBORO, Ark. – Adults may be able to lie with ease but a child who had not yet picked up this deceiving tactic led police to a shooting suspect Friday in Jonesboro.

Dispatchers received a call close to 5:15 p.m. Friday evening which no officer could be eager to hear of following the tense week nationwide: shots fired. Jonesboro Police Department dispatched officers to the 500-block of Bowling Lane and the first officer to come into contact with someone related to the incident was Cpl. Jason Chester.

Chester encountered a black vehicle with two females and a small child inside. He flagged them down, according to the incident report, and the driver and passenger said they had witnessed a white male shoot at another male, but did not know who either was. 

This was when the young child blurted out, “It was Corey, Momma!” the report stated.

The mother of the honest young boy hung her head and came clean to Chester about the suspected shooter, Corey B. Adams, 28, of Jonesboro. While he asking the women for more information, Chester noticed a black vehicle turn onto Bowling Lane. He asked one of the ladies if it was the suspect and she said it was. Chester jumped into his vehicle and pursued the suspect with Ptl. Tyler Wilson into the cove. Chester wielded his rifle during the encounter.

Both Chester and Wilson approached the vehicle, weapons drawn, without incident. The suspect was commanded to climb out of the driver window, due to his door handle not working. Adams surrendered and was handcuffed and arrested and taken to JPD for questioning, before being booked on charges of aggravated assault, a felony, and discharging firearms within city limits.

As investigators arrived to piece together the events, they spoke with a man, 24, of Weiner, who was “very shaken and sweating profusely.” He told officers he went to his girlfriend’s family’s home near the area and Adams, along with his father, began accusing him of being a “cop or P.I.” The victim said Adams’ father grabbed him by the throat and told him “he had better turn around and run and never come back.” The victim did try to flee but as he was leaving, he told officers Adams fired several round at him.

The gun officers recovered on Saturday at the Meadow View Trailer Park, 4303 Aggie Road, was an Israeli Weapons Industry Desert Eagle 9mm pistol. The gun had been passed off to a man living in the park, detectives learned. The gun, called the “baby Desert Eagle” by experts, is a higher quality firearm imported into the United States. It was logged into evidence by detectives, along with two ammunition clips – one with 16 rounds and one with only nine.

Officers interviewed several witnesses over the course of the weekend. Adams is being held in Craighead County Detention Center as of Sunday, 12:25 p.m., on a temp bond of $50,000.