Arkansas Supreme Court Affirms Life Sentence for Keenan Hudson in 2019 Stuttgart Shooting

The Supreme Court of Arkansas on Sept. 25, 2025, affirmed the conviction and sentence of Keenan Hudson for the 2019 fatal shooting of Zyrique “Zack” Geans in Stuttgart, Arkansas. The court upheld a jury verdict finding Hudson guilty of capital murder and a consecutive fifteen-year firearm enhancement, resulting in life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus the enhancement.

The court’s opinion said the State presented multiple eyewitnesses who testified they saw Hudson firing a handgun from a purple Chevrolet Camaro toward the residence where Geans was located, and that the victim later died from a gunshot wound. The opinion noted physical evidence consistent with those accounts, including a trail of 9mm shell casings leading from the Camaro, 9mm casings inside the vehicle that a firearms examiner concluded were fired from the same handgun, and bullet fragments recovered from the victim that matched the type of bullet recovered at the scene. Forensic testing also detected gunshot residue on Hudson’s clothing and on the rear passenger seat and passenger-side headrest of the Camaro.

The court rejected Hudson’s claim that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove he shot and killed Geans, explaining that the appellate sufficiency standard requires viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and deferring to the jury’s credibility determinations. The court relied on Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-10-101(a)(10), which defines the charged capital-murder theory—discharging a firearm from a vehicle at an occupiable structure or person—and precedent explaining that the purposeful mental state in that section refers to the act of discharging a firearm rather than proof of premeditated intent.

At trial in January 2023, the State introduced testimony from multiple witnesses who placed Hudson in the Camaro and described him firing a handgun toward Bradford’s residence on Cleveland Street. Investigators recovered fourteen 9mm shell casings in and along the path of the Camaro, four 9mm casings in the driveway of the residence from a different manufacturer, and a separate group of 7.62x39mm casings consistent with an AK-style rifle near the deck of the residence. No firearm was found inside the Camaro; investigators later recovered a Taurus pistol and an AK-47-style rifle outside the residence. The medical examiner testified the victim died from a gunshot wound that perforated the aorta and that bullet fragments consistent with fragmenting “RIP” ammunition were recovered from the body.

Hudson testified in his own defense, asserting he fired only after being shot at and after being struck earlier in the day; he also admitted he was the only person in the Camaro who fired a gun and acknowledged throwing his pistol into a vacant lot before police arrived. The jury rejected his justification defense and returned a guilty verdict. The circuit court imposed sentence on Feb. 8, 2023.

The Supreme Court opinion addressed related legal arguments Hudson raised on appeal—denial of a motion to suppress his custodial statements and whether the appellate record could be settled for review—and affirmed the circuit court on those points as well. The court concluded the video-recorded interviews and signed waiver forms supported the circuit court’s finding that Hudson’s Miranda waiver was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary despite a visible head injury noted in the record.

The appeal was decided by the Supreme Court of Arkansas, with the opinion citing controlling statutes and precedent and concluding that no reversible error was shown. The court affirmed Hudson’s conviction and sentence.