Family in Pine Bluff honors the life of the murder victim and demands an end to violence

Pine Bluff, Arkansas – A Pine Bluff family came together to commemorate their loved one’s life.

On January 9th in Pine Bluff, Harold Withers, 39, was shot and died on Port Road and Byrd Street.

This is the second homicide in Pine Bluff in 2022.

His friends and family conducted a balloon release there where Withers was killed as a way to honor his memory.

Along with the balloons, shouts of “we love you, squirt” filled the air.

According to the family, Withers was known as Squirt when he was younger.

According to the police, they discovered Withers inside a part of the road car, suffering from gunshot wounds.

At the scene, he was identified as deceased.

“We just want justice for my son. What happened to him he didn’t deserve,” says Harold Withers Sr as he describes this tragedy as a “nightmare.”

Squirt leaves two sons in his wake, and according to his cousin Fernand Gardner, “he was a parent first.”

Now that both of his parents have died, one of Withers’ boys is alone. A few years ago, Harold Withers’ wife perished in an automobile accident.

Harold’s son, according to Gardner, is “defiantly taking it hard.”

“I mean to not have a parent, can you imagine?”

The family claims that in addition to wanting justice for Squirt, they also want change because the world is plagued by an excessive amount of senseless violence.

“Our young boys are dying. Our men are dying. It’s got to stop. Today, tomorrow, sometime it’s got to stop,” said Gardner.

In order to identify a suspect, the Pine Bluff Police Department is still looking for information.

Call the tip line at 870-730-2106, the Detective Division at 870-730-2096, or Dispatch at 870-541-5300 if you have any information.

From the department’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pinebluff.pbpd, information can also be sent via messenger.