SEARCY — A third man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of a Searcy janitor.
Maurice Andre Alexander, 20, of Judsonia entered the negotiated plea in White County Circuit Court in the Oct. 23 slaying of Zachary Mitchell, 20.
Judge Robert Edwards sentenced Alexander to 20 years in prison. The maximum Alexander could have received was 10 years to 40 years or life in prison under Arkansas law.
Mitchell was found on the floor of Nephrology Associates, the business where he worked, with a single gunshot wound in his chest. Nephrologists specialize in treating kidney disorders.
The shooting was the result of an attempted robbery gone awry, Prosecuting Attorney Chris Raff said Wednesday.
The defendants “attempted to rob him [Mitchell] behind J.C. [Penney], and that was not successful,” Raff said. “Not too much longer after that, he went to work at the nephrology clinic. That’s where they attempted to rob him again.”
Raff declined to say which man authorities believe fired the gun.
Alexander and the other defendants originally were charged with capital murder. In Arkansas, that offense is punishable by execution or life in prison without parole.
Sherod Shockley, 22, of Augusta and Devote Tre Nelson, 19, of Searcy also have pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Each of them got 30 years in prison.
Among those charged, Alexander “was the least involved” in the crime, Raff said.
“He pled as an accomplice,” Raff said. “He never got out of the car” or touched the gun used to kill Alexander.
A fourth defendant, Ross Wood, 21, of Searcy, is awaiting a pretrial hearing Tuesday and an April 9 trial. Raff said Wood was a friend of the victim.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/29/2012