A 63-year-old Jacksonville man who fatally shot his wife during a drunken argument and then called for help accepted a 65-year prison sentence Tuesday.
Barely six months after he killed 53-year-old Vanessa Ann Austin, Larry James Hawkins pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter, reduced from first-degree murder, and being a felon in possession of a firearm before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims.
Senior deputy prosecutor Marianne Satterfield told the judge that Hawkins shot the woman, the mother of his two children, at the couple's home at 1308 Lee St., then called 911.
Police arrived early on Feb. 26 to find Hawkins waiting for officers at the front door of the home. Officers found Austin's body on the bedroom floor. She had been shot in the forehead, according to an arrest report.
Court filings state that prosecutors had witnesses from both sides of the couple's family, including their children, who could testify that Hawkins regularly abused Austin.
Hawkins has been a felon since November 2002 when he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and felony fleeing and received a 10-year sentence.
Metro on 09/06/2017