A jury in Garland County deliberated about 45 minutes Tuesday before sentencing a Hot Springs man to death on two counts of capital murder for the 2015 shooting deaths of his wife and daughter.
Eric Allen Reid, 57, was convicted Friday after two days of testimony in the Oct. 19, 2015, killings of his wife, Laura J. Reid, 57, and daughter, Mary Ann Reid, 32, at their home at 607 Northwood Trail.
In earlier testimony, Alexa Reid, the daughter of Mary Reid and granddaughter of Laura Reid, described the emotional turmoil she has been in since they were “killed at the hands of my grandpa.”
“I am a warrior and a fighter and [Eric Reid] will never bring me down again. This situation has made me so strong,” she said. She noted how her mother loved her and her brother and “always put us first” in her life.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham argued Reid was not mentally disturbed, “he was just mad,” and that the “unusual pressures” the defense cited such as financial problems and child-raising “are the same things all couples fight over.”
Reid surrendered to sheriff's deputies in the driveway of his residence when they arrived at the scene in 2015.
Deputies made entry into the house and discovered the two bodies.
Authorities said Reid at one point provided a videotaped statement in which he admitted to shooting both victims.
Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick, at a news conference the next day, called the killings "a horrific event in Garland County," and noted there was "some discord going on in the family" preceding the shootings.