Michael Brewer, of Harrison, age 24, was arrested after a fatal shooting occurred on the morning of Dec. 15, 2023. On Tuesday, April 2, Brewer appeared before Circuit Judge John Putman and entered a guilty plea statement with the State of Arkansas. The plea takes Brewer’s charge from capital murder — a class Y felony, down to murder in the second degree — a Class A Felony.
The charge was amended based on evidence which would have been presented at trial. In addition to amending the charge from capital murder to murder in the second degree, Tuesday’s plea removes a sentence enhancement of felony with firearm.
The guilty plea carries a sentence of ten years in the Arkansas Department of Correction followed by a ten year suspended imposition of sentence.
Previously, at an arraignment on Jan. 2, Brewer entered a plea of not guilty to the charges as filed. In January, Brewer retained William O. “Bill” James, Jr., of the James Law Firm in Little Rock. He was previously represented by Charles Hancock with the Public Defender’s Office.
Brewer’s charges spring from an incident which occurred on the morning of Dec. 15, 2023 when the Harrison Police Department responded to a call of a shooting at a business located at 1925 Capps Road in Harrison. According to an affidavit, officers arrived on the scene to find Michael Brewer exiting his family’s business on Capps Road with his phone to his ear and blood on his hands. Officers then located Michael Brewer's 50-year-old father, Shawn Brewer, inside the business with bullet wounds. Shawn Brewer died at the scene.
