EARLE, Ark. — Lakeith McKenzie Jr. had just celebrated his 18th birthday and had just graduated high school.
By all accounts, he had a bright future, when Thursday afternoon, he was fatally shot outside Stein’s Grocery in Earle, Arkansas, a town of around 2,400.
“That hit me hard, man. I ain’t gonna never get over this. I can’t. I can’t, they took a big part of me,” said the teen’s father, LaKeith McKenzie Sr.
“My son is dead for no reason, for foolishness, all because of you shooting,” said his mother, Maria Price.
The McKenzies told WREG they’re sure they know who killed their son — one of the same people they say attacked him the night before his death at the same grocery store where he was shot.
“The guy that shot him, he stood in the doorway with his phone so he could record it,” said LaKeith McKenzie Sr. of the attack.
They said they reported the attack to police, but nothing was done.
Tuesday they confronted an Earle police officer, but Price said she reserves the brunt of her anger for the person who took her son’s life.
“You can pull the trigger and shoot and kill my son…what you run for? You ain’t nothing but a coward.” said Price.
The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office told WREG it is now handling the investigation and not the Earle Police Department.
An investigator with the Sheriff’s Office said they don’t currently have any suspects in this case, but they do have a person of interest.
