A Federal Grand Jury has indicted two Camden men accused of attempting to rob a pawn shop and killing the owner of the business.

In a press release Friday, Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas said Darryl Strickland Jr., 22, and Rodney Tyrone Henry, 22, were charged following the November 12, 2018 robbery of the Alon Gas Station and the attempted robbery of the Wise Buck Pawn Shop, both in Pine Bluff. The indictment alleges that Strickland and Henry caused the death of Brandon McHan.

McHan, 34, the owner of the business, was shot to death and an employee wounded when two armed suspects came into the store. Police said McHan exchanged gunfire with one of the two, and after the suspect left, the employee, Jason Booth, went to McHan’s aid. Both suspects then reentered the store and Booth used McHan’s gun to exchange gunfire with both suspects and at some point, Booth was shot in the chin, abdomen and hand.

McHan was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The indictment, which was returned Thursday, charges Strickland and Henry with conspiring to rob the pawn shop, which was a federally licensed firearms dealer, and with causing the death of McHan while carrying a firearm during the attempted robbery. They were also charged with using a firearm when they robbed the Alon Gas Station. That robbery occurred a short time after the attempted robbery of the pawn shop.

Strickland and Henry were taken into custody at two different locations in Camden by Pine Bluff Police and agents of the Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New Orleans Field Division, who joined the investigation because McHan was a federally licensed firearms dealer. They have been held without bond at the adult detention center since formal charges were filed against them in January.

Also according to the news release, the penalty for murder while discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence is any term of years up to life imprisonment, or death. The penalty for conspiring to, attempting to, or inferring with commerce by robbery is not more than 20 years in prison, followed by a term of supervised release of not more than three years. The penalty for brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence is not less than seven years and not more than life imprisonment and than term runs consecutively with any other sentence imposed.