[00:00:02] Speaker A: On the morning of April 7, 2023, DeAndre Livingston was lying on a couch in a Springdale apartment when a man rushed into the home and shot him before fleeing the scene. Livingston would die later that day at a nearby hospital.
Some suspect details in the case were released in the aftermath of the shooting, and police have some idea of where the shooter may have been before and after the incident. They've even developed a person of interest in the case, though they haven't publicly said who that is.
But to this day, more than two years later, there has been no arrest and no suggestion of a motive for killing. Was this a random act of violence or targeted killing? Who would have wanted DeAndre Livingston dead and why?
Why haven't authorities been able to bring anyone to justice for the killing?
This is Crime in the Ozarks, a Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette podcast. Make sure to follow us at NWA Demgaz on Instagram and share your opinion on this case. If you're listening in the Spotify app, swipe up and comment below. This episode contains discussion of murder. Please consider this how and when you listen now let's get into the case.
Part 1 who was DeAndre Livingston?
DeAndre Livingston was born February 26, 1991 in Dumas, Arkansas. His Facebook page is still online and stated he was from Mitchell.
He attended Dumas High School in addition to studying some at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
His father described DeAndre as a hard working young man, a fast learner and someone who never gave anybody trouble. He added his son loved his two children and family and spent lots of time with his niece and nephew.
That smile he had will still your heart, his father said.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: He was a guy that anybody could go to and talk to if they have any kind of.
I mean he was a guy that was loving, caring, all that good stuff. So he was an humble guy and he was a church going guy as well. When he come home he would go to church with us and he just sit around. He was a family guy.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: DeAndre and Jenny Strother had two children together.
Jenny spoke to reporter Ron wood and remembered DeAndre as a good man, a good father and a good friend.
[00:02:20] Speaker C: He was a pretty good guy. He was raised in the church so now no matter what he went through, he always, it always led him back to God. Either way, that was one of his. That's like his core values and that's one of the reasons I loved him the way I did. We actually started I guess dating in high school and we had been together all those years and then we ended up having children, we went to college together, we grew up together. Pretty much as I guess life happened and things over the years, we kind of were off and on. At the time he passed away, we weren't together but he was living with me.
He's an excellent father, super passionate father, Loved his children very, very much.
He was an excellent friend.
The people that was his friend, they were his friend to the end and he would go over the moon for them.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: In fact, the Facebook page still visible online for DeAndre shows more than 4, 500 people on his list of friends.
A search through the social media site for his name shows numerous posts by friends and family mourning his passing in the aftermath of his killing.
In his own social media posts, DeAndre shared pictures of himself with friends and family, reflections on life, jokes, music videos, and so on.
Until late 2021, he posted one thing or another regularly and publicly, but then he either took his account more private or stopped posting on a regular basis.
2021 is also the year he found himself facing some serious issues with law enforcement. DeAndre had pled guilty in 2019 to a felony drug possession charge, but there was no suggestion that he was found with anything more than a personal use amount of anything illegal. He received a 12 month suspended sentence and had to pay fines and court costs but avoided jail time.
In January of 2021, DeAndre was arrested again in connection with drug accusations, and this time the charges were more serious and more numerous.
Police served a search warrant on his apartment on North Oak street on suspicion he was selling marijuana and narcotic pills. According to an affidavit filed in the case, detectives reported finding more than 13 ounces of marijuana separated into bags and labeled for sale 3.7 grams of cocaine, Xanax and other pills, digital scales and two handguns.
Now he was facing multiple charges of drug possession with purpose of deliver, possession of firearms by certain persons, and a theft by receiving charge related to a firearm.
In August of 2022, under a plea deal agreement between his attorney and prosecutors, DeAndre pled guilty to most of the charges and was sentenced to six years of probation and assessed fines and court costs. His legal troubles weren't over though.
While one case was being resolved, another was filed.
In March of 2022, Deandre was accused in an affidavit of three counts of delivery of fentanyl less than one gram.
Even at less than one gram, the charge carried a possible sentence of 10 to 40 years or life in prison if convicted. Deandre pled not guilty to the charge in July of 2022, a pair of continuances in the case resulted in his trial date being postponed. He had a status hearing set April 11, 2023, but just four days before he could appear in court, Deandre was gunned down in Springdale.
Part 2 the killing Police have released limited details on the killing of DeAndre Livingston, but here's what they've said.
A woman called police around 9:31am April 7, 2023, saying a man had been shot in 1702 Powell street in Springdale. The woman said the man had been lying on a couch in the apartment when there was a knock at the door.
She said she answered the door and another man she did not know pushed his way into the apartment and shot Giandre.
Jenny Strother confirmed to us that the woman was her.
She had recently returned home from walking her kids to school when the incident occurred.
Jenny added she had no idea who would have wanted to hurt deandre.
Upon arrival, officers found deandre injured inside the apartment, and Springo Fire Department personnel arrived and took him to Northwest Medical center, where he was pronounced deceased later that day. His death certificate states his cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. The woman described the shooter as a Black man around 50 years old, between 5ft 11 inches and 6ft tall. Multiple witnesses described the shooter as an older black man wearing a reflective lime green vest and dark blue sweatpants. He was said also to be wearing a hooded sweatshirt, but the color was unknown.
Detectives think the shooter may have been in company of a young black female before the killing.
Investigators believe the suspect left on foot after the murder and changed his clothing after that. Police believe he may have gone to the Casey's General Store at 4751 West Don Tyson Parkway in Springdale and then the Collier Drugstore at 5201 Willow Creek Drive in Johnson.
Part 3 what comes next?
Police say a person of interest has been developed in DeAndre's killing.
An arrest has not been made.
Among the questions that remain are who wanted the young father of two dead and why?
[00:07:40] Speaker B: This was just out of the blue because actually Dion had spoke to his mom and so she came to me and she was telling me that he wanted to come back, come back home.
And the reason was is so he could, you know, get back in church and find what he was talking about going back to school, education.
Yeah, he was a smart individual.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: Police and DeAndre's family are hoping someone will come forward with information about the killing and will help authorities answer those questions and find and Arrest Dion Andre's killer.
[00:08:33] Speaker C: I want the public to know that he may just have been another person to them, but to my children, he was the world and their father.
And I know a lot of times people don't want to say anything or come forward with things they know for other reasons.
But when it's all said and done, that was someone's son, that was someone's father, that was someone's best friend, that was someone's nephew.
He was something to a lot of people.
And my kids no longer have a father, unfortunately. So at this point, the only closure or thing that we do have to hold on to or that I can fight for him for my children is justice.
And I feel like it's only fair.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: Jenny added. DeAndre's death still affects her sons. Her oldest son struggles with it more than her youngest.
Her youngest, she says, is a carbon copy of his father.
For more than two years after DeAndre passed away, his sons wouldn't play sports, even though they both had played football before. And the youngest had also played soccer.
[00:09:38] Speaker C: Football was a big thing with their dad, but I couldn't get him to play any sports, and I didn't want to force it on him. But this summer, our youngest son had saved a paper from school.
When they got out of school for the summer, they give them, like, a registration form with a code on it to sign up for Falls football.
He saved that paper all summer. And he come to me. He was like, mom, they don't have a lot longer left, but I think I'm ready, and I've decided I'm ready to play football.
So it.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: It's just football to him or probably anybody else, but it means a lot more to me because that was something really special to his dad.
And in honor of his dad, we were actually able to get his. Get Jaden the same number. So not only does he have the same number as his dad had in football in high school, he also plays the same exact position.
By coincidence, that was nothing that we planned or knew of, but he plays the same position with the same number.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: Now Jenny is focused more on keeping her son's father's memory alive in their minds.
[00:10:41] Speaker C: So I just try to keep him alive and remind them, let him watch videos, hear his voice so they never forget.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: For his father, the fact that his son was killed on Good Friday just adds to the sting of his loss.
His father said, we would love to have justice for our son. DeAndre Livingston. He was wrongfully killed in his home in the year of 2023. On Good Friday, we're asking every single person that knows anything about his death, please come forward.
Police echo that sentiment, asking for anyone with details about the killing to call Springdale Police Department and speak with Detective Elizabeth Whitaker about Case 23 to 21 3.
The department can be reached by phone at 479-751-4542. To learn more about this case, read Ron Wood's upcoming article set to publish Sunday, October 5th in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette newspaper and replica edition, as well as
[email protected] until next time, this has been Crime in the Ozarks.
Thanks for listening to Crime in the Ozarks. This episode was written by Chris Swindle and I'm your host Diana Campos. This case is reported on@nwa online.com by Ron Wood. You can also keep an eye out for future developments by subscribing to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette newspaper, our social media accounts, newsletter and the YouTube channel. If there's one thing we'll never stop doing is keeping a watchful eye on crime in the Ozarks.
