3-day trial delivers 35-year sentence

Defense thankful life in prison ruled out for grisly ’16 slaying of Hot Springs man

HOT SPRINGS — A Malvern man was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison after a three-day trial in the slaying of a Hot Springs man in 2016.

Kenny Lemante Danner Jr., 21, who has remained in custody in lieu of $100,000 bond since his arrest Aug. 10 faced up to life in prison for the slaying in May last year of Mark Turner, 23. The six-man, six-woman jury recommended a sentence of 35 years.

After two days of testimony, the jury deliberated for about one hour and 40 minutes before finding Danner guilty Thursday afternoon and, after a brief sentencing hearing Friday morning, deliberated for about 45 minutes before deciding his sentence.

Garland County Public Defender Tim Beckham, who represented Danner, said Friday that given the severity of the injuries Turner received, he was worried jurors “would be looking at a higher range” of punishment and was thankful they didn’t sentence Danner to life in prison.

“There is still a light at the end of the tunnel for him” as far as potential parole, he said. Danner will have to serve 70 percent of the sentence, or about 24½ years, before being eligible for parole under sentencing guidelines.

“He’ll be about 45 or so when he gets out,” Beckham said. But he also noted he plans to file an appeal in the case.

One focus of that appeal will be Judge John Homer Wright’s decision not to allow Beckham to introduce the criminal histories of two key witnesses who testified, including one who was previously convicted of first-degree murder.

“It was 22 or 23 years ago, and Judge Wright ruled it was too old and not relevant,” Beckham said.

DNA from blood found on a pair socks reportedly worn by Danner and later matched by the state Crime Laboratory to Turner was a key piece of evidence at the trial.

“The blood was a pretty big mountain to climb,” Beckham said, noting a shoe print found in the victim’s blood also was matched to Danner. “They couldn’t prove definitively it was the same shoe, but it was the same size and brand” as one later recovered at Danner’s sister’s house and reportedly worn by Danner.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joe Graham, who represented the state along with deputy prosecutor Shana Alexander, said the DNA evidence was “crucial in this case.”

He said that of the three bloody shoe prints found in the carpet, one was “so perfect” the examiners were able to analyze the tread pattern and determine the exact size and brand of shoe. He noted there was also blood from the victim on underwear worn by Danner.

Graham said prosecutors were “really happy” with the verdict, noting, “It’s always hard to try to prove what goes on in someone’s mind, but it was abundantly clear he meant to kill him” based on the extent of Turner’s injuries.

Turner suffered injuries from blows on the head, including a fractured skull with “part of his skull in the front missing” that caused a brain hemorrhage, “which likely would have caused his death,” Graham said.

Turner also had multiple stab wounds, including one in his eye, which the medical examiner said appeared to be caused by a screwdriver and a knife.

One stab wound in the back perforated the kidney and liver “which in and of itself would have been fatal,” Graham said.

According to an affidavit, shortly before noon on May 29, Hot Springs police officers were called to 110 Oakwood St. and found Turner facedown on his living room floor, deceased. He had multiple injuries and was lying in a pool of blood.

An investigation determined Turner recently had received a cash settlement for an injury accident. He was known to carry a backpack containing a firearm, marijuana and an older flip-style cellphone, police said, but the pack was not in the apartment. A witness said Danner and Danner’s brother were the last ones seen with Turner before the witness left.

On May 29, Danner’s sister told police he had entered her apartment on Carl Drive early on the morning of May 28. She said Danner did not live at her residence, but he had left clothing there that morning. Investigators in a search collected several pieces of clothing, including a pair of blue and gray socks.

Surveillance footage from the Carl Drive residence showed Danner wearing blue and gray socks around 6:10 a.m. May 28. The Crime Lab analyzed the blood on the socks and matched it to Turner.

On May 30, Danner voluntarily went to the Hot Springs Police Department and, during an interview, he admitted being with Turner at the victim’s apartment on the morning of May 28.

Danner said that when he left Turner’s residence, Turner was getting ready to meet a woman. Danner said after leaving the apartment that he walked to his sister’s apartment on Carl Drive.

Graham said that based on footage from various security cameras along the route Danner took to his sister’s, it would have been a couple of hours after Danner was last seen with Turner before he was seen walking to his sister’s home.

Danner was charged with capital murder at the time of his arrest, based on a possible robbery motive, but Graham said prosecutors filed the charge as first-degree murder because there was no evidence Danner stole anything.