Texarkana killing plea gets man 29 years
TEXARKANA — One of three men charged in a firefight in a Texarkana house last year was sentenced to 29 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder this week.
Joel Edward Hill, 23, agreed to testify against two co-defendants as part of his plea bargain.
Under questioning by Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black, Hill answered questions Tuesday about his role in the crime. The plea arrangement reduced Hill’s original charge of capital murder to first-degree murder.
Hill; Anthony Sean King, 22; and Devin White, 22, are accused of killing 25-year-old Demarquis Reeves on Feb. 25, 2014, in King’s residence, 2821 Locust St.
About a week before the shooting that left Reeves dead and King and White suffering from gunshot wounds, White’s iPad and gun were stolen, according to court documents.
Reeves offered the iPad and weapon for sale on his Facebook page, court documents said. King is accused of luring Reeves to his house by expressing an interest in buying the items.
King answered the door when Reeves arrived, while White and Hill hid in the house out of sight, court documents said. The three defendants attacked Reeves as soon as he entered the house, the documents said.
Hill was armed with a pistol, and White carried an AR15 rifle, the court documents said.
“The defendants continued to beat the victim until the victim got his gun out and shot at his assailants,” states an order denying bond for King issued by Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson in May.
“King and White were wounded in the exchange, and the victim was shot multiple times. The victim was disabled, and then was killed in execution manner or at least a coup de grace was administered by White.”
Hill must serve at least 70 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
White and King are scheduled to appear for pretrial hearings before Johnson later this month. Because the state is not seeking the death penalty, White and King face life without the possibility of parole if convicted of capital murder.