Mother seeking answers after deadly officer-involved shooting

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - - A mother seeks answers after her stepson was shot and killed by Jonesboro police over a week ago.

Jonesboro police responded to a call on Tuesday, Jan. 9 involving a disturbance between a man and his son Joseph McCrackin

Officer Zach Hobbs and McCrakin then got into a fight and Hobb fired his weapon, killing McCrakin.

Arkansas State Police is investigating the shooting

His stepmother, Tamara McCrakin, described McCrakin as a good and kindhearted person.

“Anybody that knew him knew he didn’t deserve to be shot,” she said.

Tamara recalled that fateful night. She said Joseph was upset because he couldn’t go back home to Little Rock.

“He never hit me, he never touched me never nothing he kinda got real rough, you know, sounding with me,” she said. “His dad comes into the kitchen and was trying to tell him, you know, ‘You’re not gonna do that’ and he told him to leave. Which when we say, leave, we mean to leave and walk it off.”

Tamara said they all stepped outside and Joseph got even more upset, even started kicking her Jeep.

“I told him, ‘If you don’t stop,’ I said, ‘I am gonna call the police.’ Well, he had to come back inside for something, and I got scared so I called 911,” Tamara said.

She added that she got into her Jeep while she was on the phone with 911 and that she was able to watch everything unfold from her car, and as time passed, she began to worry.

“I had asked at least 5 or 6 police officers if he was alive or if he died and I couldn’t get anybody to tell us,” she said.

Tamara said her stepson was still on the ground when she got the news.

“Oh, he laid out there for three hours uncovered,” she said.

Now, his family is left with questions.

“Why did you not tase him? Why did you have to shoot him?” she said. “In my mind, it is my fault because I’m the one that called 911.”

Tamara has a memorial outside her home in the spot where she said he died. She said she goes there to remember her stepson.

“I want him to be remembered as a loving person, a storyteller, you know. All in all, he was a good person,” she said.

McCrakin’s funeral arrangements have not been announced.

We reached out to the Jonesboro Police Department for a comment but weren’t able to reach them at the time the story aired. However, Arkansas State Police said they can’t release anything at this time because it’s still an active investigation.

A History With The Police

Court documents show McCrackin had a criminal history prior to the shooting.

Jonesboro police arrested him in 2019 for attacking his sister at a home on West Jefferson Avenue.

He was found guilty of aggravated assault on a family/household member and sentenced to 60 months suspended imposition of sentence.

He was arrested again in 2020 for forcing his way into a couple’s home on Floyd Street and stabbing them. When police arrived, he also reportedly threatened to stab one of the officers.

A judge sentenced him to 36 months in prison for this case after he was found guilty of two counts of second-degree battery and one count of residential burglary. He was released in 2022, according to court documents.

In both cases, the judge issued a no-contact order with the victims.