Camden man pleads guilty to murder, gets 25 years in the ADC

A Camden man has pleaded no contest to a 2021 shooting death and has been sentenced to 25 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

Chris Byrd, 35, appeared before Judge Hamilton Singleton and accepted the plea deal from prosecutors, pleading down from first-degree murder to a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement.

Byrd is currently incarcerated in the ADC on parole violations.

Byrd was charged in 2021 in connection with the August 31, 2021 shooting of Greg Askew.

According to a press release from the Camden Police Department, an officer was dispatched to a residence on Dunning Street in regards to shots fired on August 31, 2021; upon his arrival, the release says, the officer found Askew, who was suffering from a gunshot wound in his "upper left arm."

Askew was transported to the Ouachita County Medical Center, where according to the press release, medical professionals found a bullet lodged in his chest. His humerus -- the upper arm bone -- was also "shattered," police learned.

Before being airlifted to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, Askew identified Byrd as the person who shot him, according to the CPD press release. He said he and Byrd previously had a physical altercation about a month before the shooting the release says.

Askew died as a result of his injuries on Sept. 4.

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