An Arkansas man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Friday in the April killing of a 27-year-old man, authorities said.
Dwayne Antonio Smith, 21, beat his lover, 27-year-old James Bedford, to death with a hammer April 21, according to a news release from the office of Scott Ellington, prosecuting attorney for the 2nd Judicial District of Arkansas.
Court records show Smith originally pleaded not guilty in May. A trial date had been set for November 6-9.
Smith was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the slaying and will serve another 16 years for an unrelated robbery charge, the release states.
“I want to thank Deputy Prosecutor Tom Young for his diligence," Ellington said in a statement, adding that Young's work "led to getting two violent murderers off of our streets without putting the County through the cost of a trial."
