Hot Springs rapist asks for life sentence, gets it

Larry Lavelle Jones
Larry Lavelle Jones

HOT SPRINGS -- A Malvern man was sentenced to life plus 60 years in prison Tuesday after asking a Garland County Circuit Court jury from the witness stand to give him the maximum sentence for the 2014 rape and attempted murder of a Hot Springs woman.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Larry Lavelle Jones, 37, pleaded guilty to both charges Monday, but prosecutors opted to let a six-man, six-woman jury decide his fate. They did so in fewer than 10 minutes Tuesday, after he admitted that he raped the 66-year-old victim and likely would have killed her if witnesses had not intervened.

Jones told the jury, "I'm not asking for mercy. Do what you must." Addressing the victim and her family in the audience, he told her, "You're a remarkable woman and you have a lot of people who love you. I look at rape the same as murder. I'm not asking for mercy. Go ahead with whatever the maximum is. I'm fine with that."

The victim had testified earlier Tuesday about her journey from an orphanage in Colombia to Hot Springs. She had worked at the Hot Springs Mall, where the attack occurred, for 23 years.

Jones told the victim, "I'm very sorry for what I've done. I've had a lot of sleepless nights and depression and anxiety. I've never put my hands on a woman before."

Jones testified Monday that he was fired from his job at the brick plant in Malvern after he got into a fight with a co-worker he described as "a racist b****."

"I felt like it was unfair for me to be treated that way and I was angry. My mind was racing," he said, describing how he went to Hot Springs, bought a six-pack of beer and began driving around the city "drinking and crying."

"I let my emotions drive me," he said, adding that he ended up in the mall parking lot, where he sat in his pickup and continued to drink.

When the victim walked past him going to her car, he said, "I decided to make her my target. I didn't know her. Never seen her before." He said he struck her, took her purse and put it in his pickup, and then returned to harass her, demanding more money.

"I used profanity at her and proceeded to beat on her. I grabbed her by the neck while I was hitting her." He said he began arguing with himself and a voice in his head that questioned what he was doing. "I didn't want to hear it. I responded to myself to shut the f*** up."

Jones said the victim began kicking at him and screaming for help, causing him to fall backward, and he pulled part of her skirt off as he fell. He then removed her underwear and raped her, he said.

He admitted he told the victim he would kill her and that he was guilty of rape and attempting to take her life.

"I was selfish in my actions and even if I'm incarcerated for the rest of my life I want to be at peace. I want [the victim] and her family to be able to heal. I can't do anything to eradicate what I've done. I can't take that back.

"I know she's a strong woman. I just hope you and your family will someday be able to forgive me. I devalued your life and I was so close to taking your life. I've done a disgraceful thing."

The victim also testified about the attack and told the jury of the several surgeries she had to endure afterward, including having her mouth wired shut as doctors worked to reconstruct her face.

"I don't look the same now. Every time I look in the mirror I see the scars," she said.

She also explained how she had a mental breakdown after the attack, believing at one point that the devil was in her bathroom. She said she is still fearful to be alone.

"Every time I get in my car the first thing I do is lock the door. I'm very cautious about people now," she said.

After Jones' testimony, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence told the jury that he "has asked you for life plus 60, and he's earned it, by God." She urged the jurors to give him the maximum sentence "to keep all of us safe, because we'll know where he is for the rest of his life."

State Desk on 02/11/2016

Upcoming Events