A homeless man arrested Wednesday morning on a murder charge for the shooting death of a local man last week had reportedly argued with the victim moments before shooting him in the chest, an affidavit released Thursday said.
Vincent Bernard Louis, 41, who lists "city streets" as his address, was taken into custody by Garland County sheriff's deputies shortly after 11:30 a.m. in the 5000 block of Central Avenue and taken to the Hot Springs Police Department where he was served with a warrant for first-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison, at around 12:15 p.m.
He remained in custody Thursday on $250,000 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Sept. 23, around 6 p.m., officers responded to the apartment building at 132 Chapel St. regarding a shooting. They located an unidentified black male lying just inside the front doorway, in the middle of the hallway next to an open unmarked apartment door, which was the first door to the right just inside the front entrance to the building.
The man, later identified as Cory Terrance Gibson, 39, of Hot Springs, had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the chest and was unresponsive. LifeNet personnel arrived moments later and determined Gibson was dead.
A witness told detectives he was with a friend he knew as Vincent at 137 Chapel St. and he saw Vincent and the victim get into an argument. At one point while arguing, he said Vincent produced a revolver and fired multiple shots at the victim, striking him at least once.
Vincent then pointed the gun at him and asked if he was wearing a wire, he said. Then Vincent turned and left the scene on foot.
The witness was later shown a photo lineup that contained a photo of Louis and five other black males of similar age with similar characteristics. The witness positively identified Louis as the person he saw shoot the victim, the affidavit states.
A warrant for Louis' arrest was issued the next day and Louis' photo and information were posted on social media by police on Sept. 26 asking for the public's help in locating him.
Local on 10/04/2019