A 19-year-old from Palestine, Texas, who is accused in the January 2017 attempted capital murder and robbery of a Texarkana, Ark., convenience store clerk is back in custody.
Chavel Terrell Jemison appeared Tuesday morning before Circuit Judge Carlton Jones to address a motion filed by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jeffery Sams for a revocation of Jemison’s current $100,000 bond. Jemison was arrested May 27 in Palestine for allegedly assaulting a man at a convenience store there.
According to an incident report attached to the motion to revoke Jemison’s bond, Jemison and four other men entered the Lucky Star Grocery convenience store May 27 shortly before 11 p.m. The men allegedly assaulted a customer and struck him in the head with a pistol. The men allegedly took money from a store cash register as well.
Jemison’s attorney, Lee Short of Little Rock, could not be at Tuesday’s hearing but filed a motion in response to Sams’ motion. Lee asked that Jemison be allowed to remain free until a date for a bond hearing could be scheduled. Jones took Jemison into custody but said he would have a formal hearing to address the issue of bond once a date could be arranged with his attorney.
Jemison is scheduled to face a jury in Miller County in August for crimes he allegedly committed with co-defendant LaTerrance Traylor, 21, on Jan. 9, 2017. According to a probable cause affidavit, the men entered the 71 Express convenience store with bandanas covering their faces.
The clerk on duty was outside sitting in a car with a friend when the men entered and told investigators they roamed around the store before taking her wallet from a counter and leaving. A short time later, two men matching the same description allegedly held the clerk at Circle K convenience store at gunpoint.
One of the men allegedly held a gun to the clerk’s head while the other held a bag as the clerk emptied the contents of a cash register into it.
When the clerk told the men he did not have a password to open the store’s second register, one of the men allegedly struck him in the side of the head, knocking him to the floor. One of the assailants urged the other to shoot the clerk and the clerk allegedly heard the man trying to chamber a round into the pistol.
The clerk jumped up and wrestled with his attackers, punching the man with the gun in the face and knocking the gun from his hands. When police recovered the gun, they discovered the base plate had been knocked loose, probably when it was used to strike the clerk, and the loose plate prevented the gun from functioning.
Investigators were able to trace the gun left behind to Palestine where it had allegedly been sold to Jemison.
When he was arrested Jan. 10, 2017, Jemison allegedly had a black eye and was wearing the same red belt worn by one of the robbers in video footage of the Circle K robbery. Bandanas and clothing were allegedly found in Jemison’s car which matched clothing in the robberies.
Jemison and Traylor face 10 to 40 years or life in prison if convicted of attempted capital murder. Aggravated robbery is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life as well. Prosecutors have filed enhancements in both of those cases for use of a firearm which could mean up to 15 additional years for each offense.
Commercial burglary is punishable by three to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Traylor is currently free on a $40,000 bond. Both men are scheduled for separate trials in August.
