An Arkansas woman was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison after she fatally stabbed her husband in the neck, the Hot Springs Sentinel Record reported.
Tonya Latris Lomack, 36, of Hot Springs pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Garland County Circuit Court for the Nov. 25, 2014 death of 35-year-old Eric Lomack, the paper reported.
According to an affidavit, police arrived at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs around 1 a.m. and found Eric Lomack being treated for a stab wound to his neck. Authorities spoke with his wife, Tonya, who had driven him to the hospital from the Best Motel at 658 Ouachita Ave.
She told police a masked man entered their apartment at the motel, stabbed her husband and fled. Her husband then chased after the attacker and collapsed, Lomack said.
When authorities reviewed surveillance footage, they reportedly saw Eric Lomack enter the apartment alone, then come outside "holding his neck covered in blood." Eventually, he fell over in the parking lot, and about 10 minutes later, Tonya Lomack and children walked outside, put him in the car and drove away, police said.
After she was questioned again, Lomack told authorities she stabbed her husband during an argument that involved a struggle, the paper reported. She reportedly told her children to tell police that a man with a mask stabbed their father.
"She had always claimed some degree of self-defense in the case," Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joe Graham told the paper.
"We brought their children in, who were there when it happened, to talk with them and it seemed a little rehearsed what they were telling us. They had stories of past abuse by the father against her, but right after it happened one of the kids told us the father never did anything to her.
"Their story changed when it came down to their mother going to trial. The only one who could tell us what really happened is the victim and he's dead so he's unable to talk," Graham said.
Lomack reportedly agreed to plead guilty last month but changed her mind on the day of the hearing. She finally agreed to the plea deal Monday and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
