On July 10, 2023, Charles Pepper, 47 of Little Rock, was arrested and charged with Capital Murder in reference to a homicide that occurred on East 39th Street in Little Rock on the same date. The victim has been identified as Donell Peterman, 56, who is a former Montgomery County Councilmember.
Peterman was a Montgomery County Council member who was appointed in July, 2002 after Derick Berlage resigned in June of the same year to become head of the Department of Park and Planning. In a report by MoCo360, “In recent years, Peterman traveled regularly between Little Rock and Silver Spring. Peterman graduated from Morehouse College in 1989, then joined the U.S. Army. Then, he founded Joshua Group Ministries in 1996 in Takoma Park and served as senior pastor.”
Per Arkansas Online, “Charles Pepper, 47, told Pulaski County deputies in Arkansas that he got into a dispute with Donell Peterman, 56, and strangled him, the arrest report states.”Investigators noticed that Peterman’s pockets were turned inside out. Pepper was brought in for questioning, and investigators reported finding Peterman’s personal items inside Pepper’s apartment on 39th Street. Pepper was arrested at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the sheriff’s office. He was being held without bond Thursday evening in the Pulaski County jail on a capital murder charge, per jail records.

