Family of shooting victim speaks out on Netflix documentary featuring inmate

Little Rock, Arkansas – A victim’s relative is discussing the new Netflix documentary after learning that Raymond “AJ” Lovett, the prisoner who killed her nephew, is one of the offenders highlighted.

According to Lynette Perez, September 28, 2022, permanently altered both her life and the lives of her family members.

Leighton Whitfield, her nephew, 21, was shot and killed while at Sherwood’s CHI St. Vincent Hospital.

“The last thing he ever said to me was “I love you and see you later”,” said Whitfield. “To have him snatched away from our family at his prime when he had his entire life ahead of him is a very devastating situation, especially for his mother.”

She claimed that it was devastating to watch the trial as a member of the victim’s family. After being accused of capital murder, Lovett was given a life sentence without the possibility of release.

When the Netflix documentary was broadcast more than a year later, Perez claimed that her phone blew up a few days after it aired.

“I had to sit there on a Friday night and binge-watch to see what they were referencing,” said Perez. “I watched and fast-forwarded. In the first episode, even if he didn’t have speaking parts I knew exactly who that was.”

She warned Leighton’s mother and fiancé not to watch it over the phone right away.

Perez acknowledged that the experiment’s goal was to help convicts change their ways, but she couldn’t understand why a person who had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole was picked to take part.

“Why did they think it was a good idea for someone charged with capital murder to be featured in this,” said Perez. “I had been around her enough to know how traumatized she was. This was anything from survivors’ guilt to straight PTSD that she didn’t need to see. I didn’t want my sister-in-law to see it.”

She expressed her desire to guarantee that her nephew’s name will go on forever.

“He can run his Pulaski County Jail as he sees fit, however, think about the victims and the victim’s families and how it impacts them,” said Perez. “Why should the world know AJ Lovett’s name and not know Leighton Whitfield’s name,” said Perez. “That is why I wanted to talk about the impact. I don’t want his name to ever be forgotten.”

When we contacted the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department to request more information, we were informed that they would not be providing any at this time.