On a Thursday afternoon in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the life of Horace Harrington, a 69-year-old Black man, was tragically cut short. On September 3, 2020, police were called to a home in the 3100 block of Lilac Street around 2 p.m. for reports of a shooting. They arrived to find Harrington in the carport of his residence with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two days later, on a Saturday afternoon, about a dozen people gathered in the front yard of Harrington's home to pray for answers. The vigil, organized by a local church and a community activist, was an attempt to bring a sense of hope to a neighborhood that had seen other violent crimes. Neighbors watched from their yards as attendees, including several police officers, walked the lawn saying their own prayers for Harrington and two other young men who had also been killed in the city that same day.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, which was the city's 19th homicide of the year, police
said they were poring over evidence but had no new leads. Within a week, however, authorities announced a breakthrough. They arrested 18-year-old Vernon Lee McCraney III and charged him with first-degree murder in connection with Harrington's death. He was held in the Jefferson County jail on a $500,000 bond.
A probable cause affidavit later filed in the case suggested a possible context for the violence. According to the document, police believed the shooting was part of a retaliatory wave of violence between two rival street gangs. The affidavit identified McCraney as a member of one gang, "EBK/MG," and stated that some of Harrington’s family members living at the same residence were believed to be members of a rival gang known as "MOB."
The case took another turn a few months later. On November 28, 2020, Vernon McCraney was released from jail. Prosecutors reported that they had determined they did not have a strong enough case against him to proceed with the charges. As of November 2020, the murder of Horace Harrington remains unsolved.
