Juvenile tied to Lark Place killing faces new gun charges

A Clark County teenager who turns 17 this month is facing felony charges after authorities found him in possession of a defaced firearm.

On probation for his involvement in a deadly 2022 robbery, J.L. Desean Sims became the target of a home visit when his juvenile probation officer received a tip that he could be in possession of a firearm.

Sims was 15 years old at the time an apparent drug robbery-turned-shootout that left two people dead on Dec. 30, 2022. One teen was shot to death outside Lark Place Apartments, and an adult died later at Baptist Health Medical Center. Sims and another juvenile reportedly waited outside in a vehicle as the robbery and subsequent shooting happened.

Police would later round up Sims, his older brother and others allegedly involved in the days following the killings. Prosecutors were initially planning to charge both teens as adults, but that didn’t happen. Everyone charged in connection with the deadly robbery were released from jail custody soon after their first court appearances were held.

A year and a half later, the younger Sims has found himself in hot water again, this time for being in possession of a defaced firearm while on probation.

Authorities with the Arkadelphia Police Department and Group 6 Narcotics Unit aided the juvenile probation officer in a July 8, 2024, visit at Sims’s residence, an address listed as Ouachita Commons in Caddo Valley.

Police initiated a search of the residence and located a backpack containing a silver firearm magazine. In another room they found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol with an extended magazine and light/laser combo attached. The firearm’s serial number had been removed.

An affidavit indicates that Sims attempted to leave the scene but was stopped at the front door, where after a “brief struggle” he was taken into custody and transported to the police department for further questioning.

A police indictment submitted to 9E Prosecuting Attorney Dan Turner led to formal charges against Sims, this time as an adult. Sims faces charges of possession of a firearm by a certain person and possession of a defaced firearm, both felonies, as well as resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.