Ryan Chandler was 35 and serving as a pastor when he was shot dead on May 5, 2022, in Forrest City, Arkansas, about a day after his birthday. The shooting happened shortly before noon at Jordan’s Kwik Stop on North Washington Street. Officers found Chandler in the driver’s seat of his parked car with a gunshot wound to the head.

Police arrested 24-year-old Rodney Ward of Mabelvale a short time after the shooting; officers reported Ward was in the front passenger seat and recovered a 9mm handgun. Ward was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and resisting arrest, and booked into the St. Francis County Jail. Ward later told investigators he had been walking from Memphis to Little Rock when Chandler offered him a ride and, he says, made unwanted sexual advances that led him to shoot in self-defense. Friends and members of Chandler’s church dispute that account.

Chandler’s family and congregation were left mourning as the case moved through the courts. If anyone knew Ryan Chandler or saw activity at Jordan’s Kwik Stop that day, please share what was seen or heard.