Muskegon woman could face death penalty if convicted of 2 Texas murders
By Lynn Moore
MLive.com
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI -- A Muskegon woman faces the death penalty if convicted of two murders in Texas for which her boyfriend, a mixed-martial arts fighter, also is charged.
Maya Renee Maxwell, 26, has been indicted by a grand jury in Bell County, Texas, for capital murder of multiple persons and tampering with physical evidence, which was the car belonging to one of the victims.
She is charged in connection with the murders of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin, who investigators believe were killed in Killeen, Texas, and buried in Oklahoma, according to arrest warrant affidavits.
Cedric Joseph Marks, 44, also has been indicted for capital murder of multiple persons in the deaths of Scott, 28, and Swearingen, 32. It’s alleged that the two were killed Jan. 3, 2019, and were reported missing Jan. 4, 2019, according to arrest affidavits obtained by MLive/Muskegon Chronicle.
Marks’ wife, Ginell McDonough of Muskegon, has been charged in Muskegon County District Court with harboring fugitives – Marks and Maxwell -- and lying to investigators.
Indictments against Maxwell and Marks say they caused Swearingin’s death by “strangulation” and “asphyxiation” and also killed Scott by “homicidal violence” at about the same time. Scott and Marks reportedly were in a prior dating relationship.
An affidavit for Marks’ arrest indicates that Maxwell told detectives that Scott and Swearingin were killed by Marks at a home in Killeen to which they had been taken, on Jan. 3. Maxwell told police she heard sounds of struggles after Marks entered separate rooms where Swearingin and Scott were “located,” the affidavit states. When he left each of the rooms, the victims were deceased, the affidavit states.
Maxwell told detectives that the bodies of Scott and Swearingin were buried in Oklahoma, and police later located them at the spot she had described, the affidavit says.
“Maxwell also admitted that she was present before and after the deaths of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin and was present at the transport and burial of the bodies,” the affidavit states.
Maxwell’s arrest affidavit states that Swearingen and Scott were reported missing Jan. 4 and were last seen at Swearingin’s home. The next day, Swearingin’s car was found in Austin, Texas, and the investigation led to Maxwell who admitted she was involved with the transport of the vehicle to conceal it from law enforcement, according to her arrest affidavit.
Maxwell told police Marks also was involved in moving Swearingin’s car, and he too is charged with tampering with physical evidence, affidavits and grand jury indictments show.
Marks escaped on Feb. 3 from a private prisoner transport van that was taking him from Kent County to face double-murder charges in Texas. He escaped when the van stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant in Conroe, Texas, and was found nine hours later hiding in a trash can.
It’s alleged that McDonough, 37, allowed Marks and Maxwell to stay with her from Jan. 5-8 after they returned from Texas. Marks also was at McDonough’s home before he left with Maxwell on Jan. 1 for Texas, Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Chief Trial Attorney Matt Roberts said earlier.
Investigators found a suitcase with Marks' papers and an assault rifle “concealed” at McDonough’s U.S. Army Reserve Office in Muskegon, Roberts said. McDonough is a sergeant with the U.S. Army, according to her attorney.
Marks and Maxwell were arrested Jan. 8 in Grandville.
A mixed martial arts fighter who used the nickname “Spiderman,” Marks reportedly trained at a Muskegon area gym and also taught self-defense classes to women.
https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/...s-murders.html
Bookmarks