In killing of boy, 2, 40 years for father

No contest is plea in ’14 Searcy case

A Searcy man pleaded no contest Friday to second-degree murder in the November 2014 beating death of his 2-year-old son and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

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Jeffery Clifton, 43, during a brief hearing Friday morning in White County Circuit Court, also pleaded no contest to a charge of abusing a corpse for hiding Malik Drummond's body for more than a year. Clifton had been charged with capital murder, and Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Reed McCoy said she would have sought the death penalty had the case gone to trial.

Circuit Judge Robert Edwards sentenced Clifton to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder and 10 years for abusing a corpse. Both are the maximum sentences allowed by law, McCoy said. The sentences will be served consecutively.

Clifton had been scheduled to go on trial in August.

"We are satisfied," McCoy said of the negotiated plea. "Justice was served. It was an appropriate and harsh sentence."

Malik's disappearance captivated the attention of many in central Arkansas. Hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officers searched for the child for more than a week after he was reported missing from his father's home Nov. 23, 2014.

For months, pictures of the smiling, curly-haired little boy appeared in newspapers, on television newscasts, on billboards and even on video screens at some service stations as Searcy residents held out hope he would be found alive.

Clifton's attorney, Ronald Davis Jr. of Little Rock, said Friday that his client pleaded "no contest" only because Clifton felt that evidence the prosecutor presented to a jury was sufficient to convict him.

"He was not factually admitting he did this," Davis said. "He did not say he was guilty."

Clifton had pleaded innocent during his arraignment after he was arrested in December 2015.

Davis said attorneys were scheduled to argue 50 to 60 motions during a June 8 pretrial hearing, which included Davis' request to suppress statements Clifton made after he said he was refused an attorney during questioning by Searcy police.

Clifton, a former Arkansas State University basketball player, was arrested after he led authorities to the toddler's skeletal remains in a vacant lot in Jackson County on Dec. 1, 2015, some 40 miles north of Searcy.

A state Crime Laboratory autopsy indicated that Malik died of head and chest trauma. An examination revealed the child suffered a skull fracture and a broken second rib.

According to an arrest affidavit filed in White County Circuit Court, Searcy police officers responded to Clifton's home at 710 West Park Ave. on Nov. 23, 2014, on a report of a missing child. Clifton told police he was sleeping when Malik apparently walked out of the house.

Clifton's girlfriend, Lesley Marcotte, 28, of Springdale, was living in the home at the time and reported she was taking a bath when Malik disappeared, the affidavit said.

Later, Marcotte told investigators that Clifton got mad at his son after the boy drank another child's drink and "took him in the bedroom to discipline him." She said when Clifton returned, Malik "did not act or look okay."

According to the affidavit, Marcotte told authorities that Malik's legs felt cold and his "belly was swelling." The youngster began making choking noises and Marcotte attempted to revive him, she said.

Marcotte told police that Clifton went to work Nov. 21, 2014, with Malik's body in the back seat of his truck. A day later, Clifton asked to borrow his brother's vehicle, and Marcotte said Clifton placed Malik's body in it and drove away Nov. 23, 2014.

On Nov. 30, 2014, a cadaver dog used by Searcy police "alerted" on the interior of the vehicle, meaning it had detected that a body had been in it. Police then searched the vehicle. But Clifton was not arrested at that time.

Authorities found Malik's body Dec. 1, 2015, in a vacant lot in Auvergne, a Jackson County community about 10 miles southeast of Newport. The body was not buried.

Marcotte is charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution and will be tried June 14 in White County Circuit Court.

McCoy said Friday that she could not comment on the case since Marcotte's trial is pending.

Marcotte's attorney has discussed making a plea, she said.

"We do not anticipate agreeing on any plea," McCoy said.

Clifton played basketball for ASU from 1992-1994 after transferring from Middle Tennessee State University and was a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference player. He was inducted into the ASU Letterman's Club Hall of Honor in 2004.

Clifton played professional basketball for the Memphis Fire of the U.S. Basketball League and in Spain.

Davis said Clifton made the plea because he didn't know whether Edwards would exclude statements Clifton made to police after he was denied an attorney.

"He wanted a lawyer, but he was not given an opportunity to get one," Davis said.

Had the case gone to trial, Clifton would have testified he returned and found Malik's lifeless body, Davis said.

"Rather than take him to the hospital, [Clifton] acted out of fear," Davis said. "He made a bad choice and disposed of the child's body.

"His credibility was damaged greatly by that choice. This was the best choice for him."

Davis said that by pleading no contest to second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, Clifton could be eligible for parole within 10 years.

A Section on 05/28/2016

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