60 years levied in Hot Springs shootings

HOT SPRINGS -- A Garland County Circuit Court jury deliberated about 20 minutes before sentencing a Hot Springs man to a total of 60 years in prison on charges stemming from a 2014 triple shooting that killed a woman.

The eight-woman, four-man jury convicted Steven Leroy Swanigan, 33, of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree battery Oct. 13 after four days of testimony and about four hours of deliberations.

Swanigan was charged in the April 30, 2014, shooting death of Mayela Mata, 26, and injuries to her 20-month-old daughter and a third victim, Antouin Bond, at Mata's apartment at 200 Springwood Road.

The jury recommended a sentence of 40 years on the murder charge and 10 years each on the two battery counts, all to run consecutively. Chief deputy prosecutor Joe Graham said Monday that because Swanigan is classified as a habitual offender with a prior conviction for a serious felony involving violence, he is not eligible for parole on the murder sentence.

Graham said Swanigan -- who had a previous conviction for aggravated robbery -- will have to serve the 40 years "day for day." He could be eligible for parole without serving the full 10 years on each of the battery counts, but only after serving his sentence on the murder charge.

"We are very happy with the sentence," deputy prosecutor Kara Petro said Monday. "The jury carefully listened to the testimony and considered the evidence."

"Thank goodness we are not here on three counts of murder," Petro said. "A child had to be flown to [Arkansas] Children's Hospital to be treated for gunshots he inflicted. Now, that child has to grow up without a mother."

Swanigan's alleged accomplice, Benjamin Mickey Pitts, 28, also of Hot Springs, is scheduled to stand trial on the same charges as Swanigan beginning Monday.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

State Desk on 10/20/2017

Upcoming Events