West Memphis Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Unlawful Possession of a Machinegun (DOJ)

HELENA-WEST HELENA-West Memphis man involved in a drive-by shooting that left two people severely injured will spend 120 months in federal prison after being convicted by a jury of unlawful possession of a machinegun. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, which was handed down on December 18, 2025, by United States District Judge Brian S. Miller and is the maximum allowed by law. Judge Miller also sentenced Alexander to three years of supervised release to follow his 10 years in prison.

Martinez Alexander, Jr., 20, was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on March 7, 2024, charging him with unlawful possession of a machinegun. The jury trial began on August 18, 2025. After four days of testimony, including testimony from victims of the shooting, the jury deliberated approximately 30 minutes before returning a guilty verdict.

The evidence presented at trial revealed that on December 15, 2023, Alexander and Jaylan Atkins, 21, drove up to a group of teenagers walking in a West Memphis neighborhood and opened fire with fully automatic firearms, striking two teenage males multiple times and leading to significant injuries. Bullets also struck a nearby home where a mother and her young child were present. Thirty-nine shell casings were collected from the crime scene. A state arrest warrant for attempted capital murder was issued for Alexander and Atkins following the shooting.

On December 31, 2023, two-and-a-half weeks later, law enforcement officers from the West Memphis Police Department seeking to execute the state warrant observed Alexander riding in a stolen Dodge Charger and initiated a traffic stop. The Charger, which was driven by Atkins, fled, leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase through West Memphis. The chase continued for more than five minutes before law enforcement officers used a tactical maneuver to disable the vehicle by the railroad tracks off Missouri Street.

According to testimony at trial, Atkins and the front seat passenger immediately fled on foot. Atkins was arrested and found to be in possession of a Glock 22, .40 caliber handgun equipped with a machinegun conversion device (MCD), which allowed it to function as a machinegun.

While other officers pursued Atkins and the front seat passenger, an officer noticed movement in the backseat of the stolen vehicle and observed Alexander open the back driver's side door and toss something on the ground. Once Alexander was taken into custody, a tan 9mm Glock firearm with an extended magazine and a gold MCD was discovered outside the backseat driver's side door in the area the officer saw Alexander toss an object. The firearm was tested and functioned as a machinegun, which allowed it to fire fully automatic. Further investigation revealed that the tan 9mm Glock firearm found in the possession of Alexander on December 31, 2023, was the same firearm used in the drive-by shooting on December 15, 2023.

Atkins pleaded guilty on February 5, 2025, to possessing a machinegun and was sentenced to 103 months in federal prison on October 22, 2025. There is no parole in the federal system.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the West Memphis Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley Bowen and Bart Dickinson.

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Additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

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