The Blytheville Police Department is looking for a suspect in a homicide which occurred early Monday morning.
At approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday, officers responded to a shooting call at 636 S. Lake. Whey they arrived, they discovered Raymond Warren, 65, lying on the front porch of his home with an apparent gunshot wound. Warren was unresponsive and was later pronounced dead on scene by Mississippi County Coroner Mike Godsey. According to a release from the police department, Warren's body will be sent to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner's office for an examination. Witnesses were in the area and provided suspect information.
Earlier that morning, at approximately 12:20 a.m., the police department received a call from 500 Northwest Parkway regarding an aggravated residential burglary. When officers arrived, they spoke with the victim, who said approximately six black males forced entry into her house with guns. She said she was ordered to the ground and held at gunpoint by two suspects, while the others removed items from her home, including jewelry and a laptop computer. She said the suspects then fled the house.
The victim added that approximately 10 minutes prior to this incident, two of the suspects knocked on her door, and when she answered, they asked for a girl named Kesha. The victim said when she told them she didn't know anyone by that name, the suspects left.
"Offenders often knock prior to committing offenses in an attempt to see if anyone might be at home, or who," said Capt. Scott Adams of the BPD's Criminal Investigation Division. "If anyone knocks on your door in the nighttime hours and you are not expecting anyone, contact the police."
Adams added that anyone with information regarding these two cases is urged to contact the Blytheville Police Department's CID office at 870-762-0400, or the COPS hotline at 870-762-2677. All information will be kept confidential.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com