Marianna woman given 20 years in prison for murder

Three state prison sentences were handed down in St. Francis County Circuit Court on Monday.

A Marianna woman was sentenced for murder and two Forrest City men with extensive criminal histories were sentenced for various crimes.

Deanna Thompson, 28, was given 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections in the July 2020 murder of Steven Larkin Robinson, 53, of Forrest City.

Robinson was killed overnight on July 17, 2020, after reportedly being shot multiple times in the head. According to court records, Robinson and his son, Joshua Robinson were driving to a trailer on Barrow Hill Road when they saw Thompson, who Robinson claimed they did not know, walking near the motels near the Highway 1 intersection. He told police that his father offered Thompson a ride and when she got into the van, he moved from the front seat to the back. He told police that Thompson pulled out a weapon as they were driving and began shooting his father.

Robinson also told police that after the shooting, Thompson made him get out of the van and walk with her, saying he went because he feared for his life, claiming Thompson threatened to burn the van and kill him. The pair was arrested a short time later near Highway 284.

Thompson told police that she and the younger Robinson had met previously on several occasions and she was unaware the victim was his father.

Earlier in the day prior to the murder, Forrest City police officers picked Thompson up on a felony warrant out of Phillips County, but when officials there refused to pick her up on that charge, she was released from custody.

Originally, Thompson and Robinson were charged with first-degree murder. However, Robinson’s charges were nolle prosequi in November last year after he agreed to testify against Thompson, court records show.

In addition to the 20-year sentence for murder, Thompson was also sentenced to five years in the ADC for second-degree battery to run concurrently with the murder sentence.

Also on Monday, Jaqwan Norris, 19, was sentenced to 15 years in the ADC for his involvement in a 2019 robbery at Lakeside Grocery Store in Heth. In addition, he is to serve a sixyear suspended imposition of sentence upon his release from prison.

Since his original arrest at the age of 17, Norris has been involved in numerous other criminal cases, with at least five on file in circuit court. He is the son of Akira Brandon Norris, 38, who was killed by gunfire outside his Laughrun Drive home this summer.

The plea agreement Norris entered in court on Monday shows that any cases pending from his arrest last month and other charges involving terroristic threatening and aggravated assault will not be filed against him due to the plea agreement.

In the past, according to court records, Norris has faced charges of aggravated assault, discharging a weapon from a vehicle, second-degree criminal mischief, aggravated assault, second-degree attempted murder and carrying a weapon.

Scott Logan III, 24, who was sentenced last month to 20 years in the ADC, was given another 10 years in prison, although Monday’s

sentence is to run concurrently with his original 20-year sentence. In addition, three cases against Logan were nolle prosequi.

The sentence handed down Monday was for a charge this past summer in which Logan was brandishing a loaded .45 caliber weapon outside the St. Francis County Courthouse during a circuit court term, claiming he had been threatened by a woman and her family.

Logan was also involved in last week’s incident at the county jail in which a jailer was attacked by five inmates.

In that case, Logan is facing felony charges of second-degree battery, inciting a riot and engaging in violent criminal group activity.