A Mountain Pine man charged in connection with a shooting death in January pleaded not guilty Friday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Matthew Lashawn Babb, 28, who has remained in custody in lieu of $250,000 bond since his arrest Jan. 23, appeared with his court-appointed attorney, Chief Public Defender Mark Fraiser, and pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Babb was set to be arraigned March 16, but the hearing was postponed because of the ongoing capital murder trial in Judge John Homer Wright's court until Friday afternoon. A gag order was issued in the case and he is now set to stand trial May 18.
Babb was arrested following a short manhunt after Nicholas Rodriquez, 21, of Hot Springs, was found dead at a residence at 1215 Hobson Ave., shortly after midnight. It was the first reported homicide of 2015 in Garland County.
According to the affidavit, Hot Springs police K-9 Officer A. Constant was on patrol in the area of North Patterson and Baxter streets when he heard two gunshots. A few seconds later, he saw a silver Jeep Cherokee leaving the area at a high rate of speed. He made a traffic stop on the vehicle and the driver fled on foot, leaving three passengers behind.
Soon after, HSPD Cpl. J. Dukes was flagged down in front of 1215 Hobson, about two blocks from the traffic stop, and advised someone had been shot inside. She found Rodriquez, who was deceased with at least one gunshot wound.
Constant and his canine partner, Raven, began a track from the Jeep to locate the driver. Raven led officers to the rear of Albert Pike Tire, 100 Albert Pike Road, where Babb was found hiding under a car and taken into custody. Officers also located two handguns inside a trash dumpster at the same location.
HSPD Detective S. Lampinen interviewed Babb, who stated he had gone to the Hobson Avenue residence to collect money that Rodriquez owed to him. He said the two of them got into an altercation during which he shot Rodriquez with a revolver and then fled in the Jeep. He also admitted to throwing the handguns into the dumpster while fleeing on foot, including the revolver he used to shoot the victim.
Babb also had a warrant for failure to appear on a previous charge which has since been adjudicated through time served. An earlier police report indicated the motive for the shooting was "drug related."
Local on 03/24/2015