FAYETTEVILLE -- A man convicted of killing his stepfather and trying to kill his mother was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.
Samuel Robert Hill, 27, killed Allen Hill, 61, at Allen's home near Elkins the night of Aug. 20, 2014. He also attempted to shoot his mother, Roberta Hill.
Hill was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder Wednesday by a Washington County Circuit Court jury.
That same jury spent more than six hours deliberating Thursday before returning with a life term for first-degree murder and 30 years plus a $15,000 fine for attempted first-degree murder. The terms will run consecutively at the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Circuit Court Judge Mark Lindsay handed Hill his sentence.
"Mr. Hill, one of the goals of the justice system is to try and make victims in civil and criminal cases whole. That is not possible in this case," Lindsay said. "Your father, I cannot bring him back. Your mother, this jury or this court cannot make her whole. Your actions have taken his life literally and probably your mother's life, figuratively."
Lindsay said the sentences should protect the victims and society as a whole from further injury and, hopefully, deter others from committing similar types of crimes.
"I don't believe that as of yet you have taken responsibility for your actions," Lindsay said. "I hope that you can do something to make something out of your life and accept responsibility for what you've done."
Prosecutor Matt Durrett said he was relieved to have the case behind him.
"The jury obviously took their job seriously, and I think at the end they came up with the right verdict, the right sentence," Durrett said. "It took a long time, but I'll wait a long time for a sentence like that because Roberta deserved that. She deserved to know he's never going to get out of prison, that she's never going to have to see him walking around free again. She's been through hell."
When Washington County sheriff's office deputies arrived at her home, Roberta feared her son was returning and fired at them. She shot Cpl. Taylor Reed. The bullet hit his arm and went into his torso, but his injuries were not life-threatening. Roberta wasn't charged for shooting Reed.
Durrett said he hopes Roberta can now begin the healing process.
"It's bad enough she had to see her husband get killed in front of her eyes, but she had to see her son do it," Durrett said. "And then, the horror of shooting a police officer because she thinks it's Sam and nearly getting killed by them returning fire. I can't imagine. She went through about four things that nobody should ever have to go through."
Durrett praised detective Chuck Rexford and members of the sheriff's office for their work on the case.
"The sheriff's office got put through the wringer on this one, and they did a great job," Durrett said.
After being sentenced, Hill told an aunt that he loved her and lashed out verbally at officers and members of Allen's family in the courtroom. He was led out in handcuffs.
The words exchanged between Allen's family and a juror who went back into the courtroom to speak with Hill's aunt after the jury were excused.
The aunt and Roberta have been estranged for some time, according to trial testimony. The aunt testified on behalf of Hill.
The same juror made hand gestures and mouthed "sorry" to Hill from the jury box. The juror was reluctant to answer when Lindsay polled the jury individually as to their verdicts.
The jury took just less than three hours to reach guilty verdicts Wednesday. Hill didn't testify.
The defense didn't dispute he killed his stepfather. His lawyer argued Hill suffered from schizophrenia and urged jurors to return an innocent verdict by reason of mental disease or defect.
Allen was shot six times, including two fatal shots through his lungs, a state medical examiner told jurors. He also was hit in the face, back, right shoulder and left foot. Roberta escaped the carnage by crawling out a back bedroom window and hiding until police arrived.
Metro on 05/22/2016