A Texarkana man wanted for weeks on multiple felony warrants was taken into custody Sunday after a Walmart shopper recognized him and alerted authorities. Police arrested 31-year-old Marquaves Smith as he was leaving the store, closing out a case that began in August with a gunshot wound, a hospital visit, and what investigators say was a very different story than the one Smith first told.
A Shopper's Tip Ends the Search
Officers responded to the Walmart on Sunday and took Smith into custody as he was leaving the store, according to ksla.com. A shopper had spotted Smith inside the store and reported that he had outstanding felony warrants, giving police the opening they needed after weeks of being unable to locate him. Detectives had obtained the warrants following an investigation that stretched back to an August incident, but until Sunday, officers had not been able to make the arrest.
Smith was wanted on warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, deadly conduct, two counts of endangering a child, and unlawful restraint, the outlet reported. He also had an outstanding probation-violation warrant out of Arkansas. Police said the Texas charges stem from an August domestic violence incident involving Smith and his girlfriend.
A Gunshot Wound and a Story That Didn't Add Up
The case traces back to when Smith arrived at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his hip, claiming he had been shot while walking down the street. Officers initially treated him as the apparent victim of a shooting, even though they noted he was uncooperative and evasive and provided little information. Smith was released from the hospital before police learned the circumstances investigators later alleged.
Those circumstances began to take shape after Smith's girlfriend arrived at another emergency room shortly after he was treated. According to police, she reported that Smith had become angry with her during the night, then allegedly struck her in the head with a handgun and forced her into a bathroom at gunpoint. Police say he fired a shot that narrowly missed her head while repeatedly threatening to kill her.
A Struggle Over the Weapon
Police say the woman tried to escape through the front door, but Smith caught her before she could get it unlocked. After he put the handgun down, she grabbed it and, according to police, fired several rounds into the floor in an apparent effort to empty it. Smith allegedly tried to regain control of the weapon during that struggle, and one of the rounds struck him in the hip, per police.
Two young children were inside the home at the time of the confrontation, according to police, and detectives said physical evidence at the scene supported the girlfriend's account. That evidence, combined with her statement, ultimately formed the basis for the felony warrants that led detectives to seek Smith for weeks before Sunday's arrest at the retail store.
The presence of children during a firearm-related intimate-partner dispute is part of a broader public-safety concern. A study using U.S. violent-death data from 2003 through 2020 found that intimate-partner violence was identified as a precipitating factor in 12% of child firearm homicides in the dataset. That figure concerns fatal cases—not all domestic-violence incidents or children exposed to violence—and does not describe the outcome of the Texarkana investigation. The CDC-published study examined child firearm homicides across the United States.
Texas law defines deadly conduct to include recklessly placing another person in imminent danger of serious bodily injury, as well as knowingly firing a gun at or toward a person. The state’s child-endangerment statute covers conduct that places a child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury or physical or mental impairment. Those statutory definitions provide context for two of the warrants in Smith’s case; the allegations remain subject to court proceedings. Texas Penal Code Chapter 22 sets out both offenses.
