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Thread: Eric Allen Reid - Arkansas Death Row

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Eric Allen Reid - Arkansas Death Row


    Maryann Reid and her stepmother Laura J. Reid





    State to seek death penalty in 2015 double murder

    By Steven Mross
    The Sentinel-Record

    Prosecutors indicated they plan to seek the death penalty against a local man who allegedly shot his wife and daughter to death in 2015, upgrading both first-degree murder charges to capital murder at a hearing Monday in Garland County Circuit Court.

    Eric Allen Reid, 57, who has remained in custody since his arrest the night of the shootings on Oct. 20, 2015, in lieu of $1 million bond, appeared before Judge John Homer Wright with his attorney, Willard Proctor Jr., of Little Rock, and pleaded not guilty to the amended charges.

    Reid was set to stand trial June 28 on the original charges, punishable by up to life in prison, but Proctor requested a continuance in light of the amended charges which was granted by Wright. A motions hearing is now scheduled for June 26 with a trial date yet to be set.

    Reid had previously pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to the original charges on Dec. 7, 2015.

    The motion filed by prosecutors noted Reid "with the premeditated and deliberate purpose of causing the death of another person" caused the death of his wife, Laura J. Reid, 57, and his daughter, Mary Ann Reid, 32, who both lived at his residence.

    The motion states Reid should receive the death penalty because of the presence of aggravating circumstances under the Arkansas statute, 5-4-604, defining capital murder, specifically alleging that Reid "knowingly created a great risk of death to a person other than the victim or caused the death of more than one person in the same criminal episode."

    A gag order limiting pretrial publicity was previously issued by Wright, and Proctor has also filed a motion to suppress statements made by Reid to Garland County sheriff's investigators following his arrest, arguing they were in violation of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

    Reid surrendered to GCSD deputies in the driveway of his residence at 607 Northwood Trail when they arrived at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2015, after responding to a report of shots fired.

    Deputies made entry into the house and discovered the bodies of Laura Reid and Mary Ann Reid. Also inside the house was Reid's younger daughter, 20, who also lived there, and Mary Ann Reid's two young children, none of whom were injured.

    The younger daughter gave a statement to investigator Jennifer Tonseth, indicating her father had shot and killed her sister and mother and "relayed the details" to Tonseth.

    After processing the crime scene, Investigator Terry Threadgill went to the sheriff 's department where he questioned Reid after advising him of his rights, and he reportedly provided a videotaped statement in which he admitted to shooting both victims.

    Asked about the incident the next day, Threadgill said he couldn't elaborate except to say it was "a family squabble that got way out of control." At a news conference later that day, Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick said there was "some discord going on in the family" and also declined to elaborate.

    A weapon was recovered at the scene believed to be the handgun used to shoot the victims. McCormick noted there were multiple gunshots fired and the victims were hit "in the torso area."

    "This was a horrific event in Garland County," he stated at the conference. "Our hearts go out to the victims, their family and friends and other members of the community at this time."

    Northwood Trail is located off the 400 block of Surrey Road which runs off the 1300 block of Highway 7 north of Hot Springs.

    http://www.hotsr.com/news/2017/apr/1...y-in-2015-dou/
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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Double murder trial set to begin

    By Steven Mross
    The Sentinel-Record

    After two days of questioning, a jury of seven men and five women were selected Wednesday afternoon to hear the trial of a local man charged with two counts of capital murder for the 2015 shooting deaths of his wife and daughter.

    Opening arguments and testimony in the case of Eric Allen Reid, 57, are scheduled to begin today in Garland County Circuit Court with Judge John Homer Wright presiding. The state, represented by Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham and Deputy Prosecutor Kara Petro, have indicated they plan to seek the death penalty if Reid is convicted.

    Reid, who has remained in custody since his arrest the night of the shootings on Oct. 20, 2015, was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison, but prosecutors amended the charges on April 10, 2017, to capital murder, punishable by death or life in prison without parole.

    Reid was set to stand trial on the original charges on June 28, 2017, but after the charges were amended, his attorney, Willard Proctor Jr., of Little Rock, requested a continuance, which Wright granted, and the trial was reset for this week.

    Reid pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect on Dec. 7, 2015, for the shooting deaths of his wife, Laura J. Reid, 57, and his daughter, Mary Ann Reid, 32, who both lived at his residence at 607 Northwood Trail.

    Four panels of jurors were called in Tuesday and after a full day of questioning by prosecutors and the defense attorneys, which also include Dominque King and Cara Boyd-Conner, six jurors were seated by the end of the day.

    The jurors were questioned in groups of three during the process.

    Jury selection resumed Wednesday and the remaining six main jurors were selected and one male alternate by around 4:30 p.m. Attorneys were still working to select one or more additional alternates late Wednesday.

    A gag order limiting pretrial publicity was previously issued by Wright, and Proctor filed a motion to suppress statements made by Reid to Garland County sheriff's investigators following his arrest, arguing they were in violation of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

    Reid surrendered to sheriff's deputies in the driveway of his residence when they arrived at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2015, after responding to a report of shots fired.

    Deputies made entry into the house and discovered the bodies of Laura Reid and Mary Ann Reid. Also inside the house was Reid's younger daughter, 20, who also lived there, and Mary Ann Reid's two young children, none of whom were injured.

    The younger daughter gave a statement to Investigator Jennifer Tonseth, indicating her father had shot and killed her sister and mother and "relayed the details" to Tonseth.

    After processing the crime scene, Investigator Terry Threadgill went to the sheriff 's department where he questioned Reid after advising him of his rights, and he reportedly provided a videotaped statement in which he admitted to shooting both victims.

    Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick, at a news conference the next day, said, "This was a horrific event in Garland County," and noted there was "some discord going on in the family" preceding the shootings, but couldn't elaborate further.

    http://www.hotsr.com/news/2018/mar/0...-begin-201803/
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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Tensions over finances, child lead to killings, witness says

    By Steven Mross
    The Hot Springs Sentinel

    Tensions over family finances and his 14-year-old grandson not eating his vegetables led a local man to shoot his wife and daughter multiple times in 2015, according to testimony Thursday during the first day of his double capital murder trial.

    Eric Allen Reid, 57, faces the death penalty or life in prison if convicted of the two counts of capital murder for the Oct. 19, 2015, shooting deaths of his wife, Laura J. Reid, 57, and daughter, Mary Ann Reid, 32, at their 607 Northwood Trail residence.

    "This is a simple case as far as the facts," Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham, who is representing the state along with Deputy Prosecutor Kara Petro, told the seven-man, five-woman Garland County Circuit Court jury during opening arguments.

    "The state and the defense are in agreement on the facts," Graham said, detailing how Reid reportedly gunned down the two victims in the presence of his younger daughter, Heather Reid, then 20, and then met responding Garland County sheriff's deputies and surrendered without incident.

    Graham said Reid, in a videotaped statement to sheriff's investigators, talked about being "frustrated and angry" with the way his wife and oldest daughter were spending money despite financial problems they were having. He also felt his daughter was acting more like her mother, his ex-wife, and had recruited her stepmother to her side.

    "He felt they were ganging up on him," Graham said. "He decided he was not going to lose everything he had worked for all his life because of them." In his statement, Reid admitted to shooting the two women.

    Graham also noted there would be testimony from a detention center deputy who reportedly overheard Reid in February 2017 telling other inmates, "If you're going to shoot someone with a gun, make sure they die. That's what I did."

    Attorney Dominique King, of Little Rock, who represents Reid along with Willard Proctor Jr. and Cara Boyd-Conners, told the jury the case was not about Reid's actions that night, but "his mental state at the time he committed the acts."

    She argued his actions were not "premeditated and deliberate," but "a case of sudden impulse. It was the straw that broke the camel's back." She described Reid as a "hardworking man who loved his family" who had taken in his daughter Laura Reid's 14-year-old son after he started having behavioral problems at school "to try to help him."

    King said the "bills were piling up," they were paying off two mortgages, had already filed for bankruptcy once, his grandson's behavior was regressing and he disagreed with how Mary Reid was raising him and he was recovering from prostate cancer and other health issues.

    "He was overworked and felt unappreciated and emasculated," she said.

    Heather Reid testified she lived with her father and mother, and Mary Reid and her two children had been living with them for about seven to eight months. On the day of the shooting, she and Mary Reid had gone out for a "sisters' day," shopping around town, and they later joined her mother and Mary Reid's children for lunch.

    When they returned home shortly after 8:30 p.m., she said her father was in the garage. Her sister told her she was going to take their mother to get some beers, but then Mary and Eric Reid got into an argument in the garage.

    "They were yelling at each other," she said, noting the argument was about Mary Reid not making her son eat his vegetables and how she "needed to be his parent and not his buddy."

    She said Mary Reid came out of the garage and told her, "It's about to go down." She said Mary Reid sent her kids to their room and then she heard her father coming in from the garage and going into the house.

    "Next thing I heard gunshots," she said, noting her sister was standing next to her. Then she saw her mother fall into the living room and land on her stomach. "I saw dad come around the corner and my mom rolled over and my dad looked at her and then shot her one more time," she said.

    She said her mother said "Run!" and "it felt like a brief second or a pause in time and he turned the gun toward (Mary Reid) and she started to run." She said he fired at her sister, but the first shot missed. He fired again and the second shot hit her sister and also grazed her arm since she was still standing near her.

    She said her sister ran toward the kitchen with her father walking after her and she jumped in between them to try to stop him. "He was like a wall of steel. His face was so red. The children were in the hallway holding on to each other."

    Heather Reid said her sister tried to get out the back door to the deck but got shot again. She made it across the deck to the outside entrance to her parents' bedroom and fell inside on the floor. She said her father was still behind Mary Reid and looked down at her and shot her again.

    She said her father then told her to call 911 and tell them her father had shot her mother and sister, so she made the call while he walked outside to the driveway.

    Jurors listened to the lengthy 911 call where a frantic Heather Reid could be heard trying to explain what happened and saying, "There's blood all over." The 911 dispatcher tried to guide Heather Reid through the procedures of putting pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding and cardiopulmonary resuscitation until deputies could get there.

    Under cross by King, Heather Reid acknowledged she had told investigators that night she thought her dad had "blacked out." She also said her father loved his grandson and loved Mary Reid "as much as a father can love a daughter."

    When questioned again by Petro, Heather Reid said she doesn't believe now her father had "blacked out."

    Deputy Charles Delahunt, who along with Deputy Elwood McConnell were the first to get to the scene, testified how they ordered Eric Reid to the ground and he complied with all their commands. He said he was handcuffing him when a juvenile male, later identified as the grandson, came outside and said to Eric Reid, "'I hope you rot in hell for this.'"

    Delahunt said Eric Reid looked at him and said, "'You're the reason for all this!"

    In other testimony, Dr. Charles Kokes, the medical examiner at the state crime lab, said both Mary Reid and Laura Reid died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled their deaths as homicides.

    He said Mary Reid sustained six gunshot wounds, which were caused by at least four separate gunshots and possibly six, depending on how the body was positioned at the time it was struck. He noted one shot that entered her right chest, traveled through her heart and both lungs, before exiting the left side of her chest, would have been fatal by itself.

    He noted other gunshot wounds to her right shoulder, right wrist, right forearm and the tip of her left little finger could have been survivable if treated. A sixth shot to the back of her left thigh, which traveled through her pelvis and abdomen and exited her lower right chest, would have had to be fired as she was lying facedown on the floor.

    Kokes said Laura Reid sustained three gunshot wounds caused by three separate shots, including one that entered her right lower back and exited her left abdomen, severing an aortic vein, causing a large amount of blood loss that would have been fatal.

    He said a second wound to her right flank that traveled from the left to the right side of her abdomen, injuring her liver, was potentially survivable if treated immediately, but would also have cause a lot of blood loss.

    A third wound to her left elbow, with the bullet going from the outer to the inner side of the elbow, was survivable, he said.

    Under cross by Proctor, Kokes agreed there was no way to determine the order of the shots fired or how far away the shooter would have been standing, although he noted there was no evidence any of the shots were fired at close range.

    The state rested its case on Thursday. The trial is scheduled to resume today with Judge John Homer Wright presiding.

    http://www.hotsr.com/news/2018/mar/0...ld-lead-to-ki/
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    Senior Member CnCP Addict one_two_bomb's Avatar
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    Man sentenced to death for killing wife, daughter

    HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — A jury in west-central Arkansas has sentenced a man to death by lethal injection for the 2015 shooting deaths of his wife and daughter.

    Eric Allen Reid, 57, was sentenced Tuesday in Garland County District Court. The decision came after Reid was convicted Friday on two counts of capital murder in the October 2015 deaths of his wife, Laura Reid, 57, and older daughter, Mary Ann Reid, 32, the Sentinel-Record reported.

    The presiding judge told jurors they had to weigh the aggravating factors against the mitigating factors to decide if Reid should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

    Aggravating factors were the state’s argument that Reid knowingly killed more than one person and caused great risk of death to younger daughter Heather Reid, 20, who was struck in the arm by a bullet.

    “If they had died at the hands of a stranger, it would have been easier to deal with. I don’t understand why my father did this to us,” Heather Reid said. “There are so many scenarios where we didn’t have to lose so much. It didn’t have to happen this way.”

    Mitigating factors included the defense argument that Eric Reid was under extreme mental or emotional distress at the time, lacked the ability to understand his actions and has taken courses to improve while in jail.

    But Reid was not mentally disturbed, “he was just mad,” and the distress cited by the defense such as financial problems and child rearing “are the same things all couples fight over,” according to prosecutor Joe Graham.

    Reid said he takes “full ownership” of the charges against him.

    “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around what could have driven me to do what I did, but I’ve always accepted ownership of it,” he said.

    Reid’s death sentence is the second one to be handed down by a state court in Garland County since the 1950s, after the 2015 sentencing of Randy William Gay for the shooting death of a local woman.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost....-daughter/amp/

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Judge Sentences Massena Native To Death By Lethal Injection

    A judge in Arkansas has sentenced a Massena native to death by lethal injection for killing two family members, including a woman who once lived in Ogdensburg.

    A jury in Garland County, Arkansas convicted 57 year old Eric Allen Reid on two counts of capital murder.

    That same jury recommended he be sentenced to death by lethal injection.

    In October 2015, Reid killed his 32 year old daughter, Maryann Reid. Maryann was originally from Ogdensburg, but was living in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.

    Eric Allen Reid also killed 57 year old Laura Reid, who was Maryann's stepmother.

    According to officials at the Garland County Circuit Court, the jury deliberated last week on whether Reid should be sentenced to life in prison or get the death penalty. The panel recommended the death penalty.

    On Monday, the judge formally sentenced Reid to death. It's unknown when the execution will take place.

    http://www.wwnytv.com/story/37705871...thal-injection

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    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Reid entered Arkansas' death row on 3/12/18.

    http://adc.arkansas.gov/death-row

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Arkansas Supreme Court upholds death sentence case

    Eric Reid doesn't deny killing his wife and daughter in 2015, but he has tried and failed to avoid the death penalty

    By THV11 Digital News

    GARLAND COUNTY, Ark. — A death row inmate from Garland County has lost his appeal in the Arkansas Supreme Court.

    Eric Reid killed his wife and daughter in 2015.

    He doesn't deny it. But in court, he tried and failed to avoid the death penalty.

    His defense argues the trial was full of problems from jury selection, to opening and closing statements, to evidence, and more.

    The Supreme Court shot every argument down, and on Thursday, refused to change its mind.

    As usual for death penalty cases, the defense has the chance to appeal again in federal court.

    https://www.thv11.com/article/news/c...6-8fa0e2358b27
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    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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  8. #8
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Distributed for conference October 9, 2020.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/19-8831.html
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    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Petition for certiorari denied.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Arkansas
    Case Numbers: (18-517)
    Decision Date: December 5, 2019
    Rehearing Denied: January 23, 2020

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/19-8831.html
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

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