FORT SMITH -- A formerly homeless man has been sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty in Sebastian County Circuit Court in the shotgun slaying of another man last summer.
Dwight Neal Hawley, 54, entered his plea Friday before Circuit Judge James O. Cox, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, for which Cox sentenced Hawley to 20 years in prison. That sentence will run concurrently with the murder sentence.
A first-degree terroristic threatening charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement with the state.
Hawley was accused of shooting Carlos Araujo-Mejia, 20, in the face with a 20-gauge shotgun on July 22 at an area near the Poteau River south of downtown Fort Smith known as South Camp.
Authorities said Araujo-Mejia and his girlfriend, Mindy Garrett, went to Hawley's shelter in the woods to drink. An argument broke out, and Hawley threatened to kill Garrett, which escalated the argument between Hawley and Araujo-Mejia, according to police.
Hawley admitted to police that he took out the shotgun and killed Araujo-Mejia. Garrett ran to a nearby house and called police.
State Desk on 02/10/2016