Data shows 40% of Pine Bluff murders unsolved as of 2019

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Kayleigh Mathis is the youngest victim of any unsolved homicide in Pine Bluff in the past five years. Her mother, LaBria Noid, says the four-year-old died on April 26, 2020, while shielding her younger brother and sister from gunfire.

“To know her was to love her. She was so sweet, smart, brave. She was an assistant. She was the best,” Noid said.

That night after LaBria Noid’s funeral, her children and cousins were at the family home. When the bullets stopped piercing the walls and windows, Kaylee and Terrance Givens, 36, were killed. His brother survived with a wound to the jaw.

With no arrests, suspects or vehicle descriptions, the family is losing hope. According to the Pine Bluff Police Department, between the beginning of 2019 and October 17, 2024, 64 more stories like Caylee’s remain unsolved.

A man and a 4-year-old girl died during the shooting

During the same time, Pine Bluff police solved the murders of 89 victims. This means that about 6 out of every 10 are solved.

In 2020, the year Caylee died, the national homicide rate hit an all-time low of 50%, according to data provided by the FBI. From 2019 to 2023, US agencies solved 55% of murders in the same year they occurred. The same data shows that Pine Bluff solved 29% of murders in the same year they occurred.

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FOX 16 News has spent three months trying to sit down with the Pine Bluff Police Chief or a detective for an interview about how to solve more of these hard-to-solve cases.

PBPD sent this statement:

“I regret to inform you that I cannot provide information on any ongoing investigations.

Best practice has always been for the victim’s immediate family member to speak with the detective assigned to the case.

Cold cases are still considered active investigations until they are solved or closed.

A family member can make an appointment with the designated detective and his supervisor.”

Lt. DeShawn Bennett, PBPD Public Information Officer

Noid says she has talked to her detectives over the years when the case changed hands.

“I’m not saying they don’t care, but it’s kind of out of their league. They want to do something, but they can’t because they don’t know anything,” Noid said.

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She says the authorities need the right people to speak up, but she admits it takes more than just good policing. This requires ordinary people willing to do what is right.

“Everybody’s afraid of what’s next, or I don’t want to be called a snitch. It is much more than that. This is a four-year-old kid. She was so innocent. You are not a snitch. You are doing something good and God will bless you for it,” pleaded Noid.

She added that the person who knows the most, the person who pulled the trigger, will most likely never open up. If this person is reading this, they want this person to remember who they never let grow up.

“I don’t want anybody to have the death penalty or anything. Just draw my kid in the cell so they know they messed something up,” Noid said.

For more information on these cases or call the Pine Bluff Police Hotline at 870-730-2106.

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