By Theresa Clarkson // Crime // EEW Magazine Online

Pastor Ryan Chandler, a father of two, celebrated turning 35 the day before he was murdered at an Arkansas convenience store, leaving his family devastated.

“I could be six feet under,” said the leader of The Connecting Center in Ahoskie, North Carolina, during a virtual birthday celebration video posted on his Facebook page May 4, adding, “I thank God I’m on top of the ground and not up under it.”

However, by the next day, May 5, his life was snuffed out.

According to official police reports, Chandler was killed at Jordan’s Kwik Stop on North Washington Street in Forrest City just before noon Thursday.  Forrest City Police officers responded after being alerted that a male subject was sitting in a parked car bleeding from a head wound.

Police say it appears that the victim was behind the wheel of his car in front of the store, when he was shot in the head by a man sitting in the front passenger seat. Police apprehended the suspect a short time later.

The shooter has since been identified as 24-year-old Rodney Ward of Mabelvale in the Little Rock area. Ward was arrested and held at the St. Francis County Jail on charges of 1st degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and resisting arrest, police said.

As the shocking news circulated on social media, in the absence of official reports, bloggers and social media users speculated that the young pastor and host of the weekly Facebook Live show, “Let’s Clear the Air,” had been shot to death by a hitchhiker—a story that has not been confirmed.

“In due time, I believe God is going to reveal what happened,” said Brian Chandler, father of the deceased, in a Facebook video.

“Please keep our family in prayer. We’re looking for God’s strength because it’s hard to lose a child and especially your oldest. My mind has been going a hundred miles per hour,” he said.

According to Brian Chandler, he has been restless and fighting the urge to retaliate. “I’m not sleeping well, and I’m not going to sit here and lie and play like I haven’t had no thoughts. I gang-banged for years. I was in the streets for years, and I haven’t forgot. But, praise God, I’m going to put it all in His hands and let Him work it out, because I know that I wouldn’t do my son no good if I was locked up.”

A woman who self-identified as the best friend of the deceased, Shawnda Ree Tillis, claimed to “know the truth” of what occurred during the fatal incident in a now deleted Facebook video. She was adamant that the preacher had not picked up a hitchhiker but had “gotten into it” with a “homeless man” who discharged his weapon.

Speculative reports contradicting Tillis’s account are still circulating on the Internet.

Whatever the true details may be, what remains undisputed is the fact that a life was cut short due to gun violence, and Pastor Chandler’s grieving family, parishioners, supporters, and friends are in need of much prayer, love, and support at this difficult time.