LITTLE ROCK — A man charged earlier this year in a 7-year-old Little Rock murder pleaded guilty to the killing as part of an agreement with prosecutors Monday morning, a day before his capital murder trial was to begin.
Antonerio Deon Norris, 28, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree murder and a single charge of aggravated robbery in the death of Anthony Ray Terry, 42, court records show.
Terry was found shot in the head the morning of Jan. 17, 2004, in the 4000 block of Old Shackleford Road near West 36th Street. The homicide case largely went cold until March.
Appearing before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright, Norris apologized to Terry’s family before being sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder charge and an additional 10 years for the robbery charge as part of the plea agreement, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson said.
Norris received 233 days of credit for time served while he awaited trial.
Norris had faced the death penalty in Terry’s slaying, and in return for his plea, prosecutors agreed to reduce the murder charge from capital murder and drop a theft charge, court records show.
Johnson said Terry’s family had approved the plea agreement, which requires that Terry serve at least 35 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
Norris had been in the Pulaski County jail since May. He was arrested in Hempstead, N.Y., on a murder warrant that Little Rock cold case detectives had obtained in March.
The warrant was filed more than seven years after a motorist found Terry dead, and North Little Rock fire crews found a 1993 Mercury Topaz ablaze in the 1300 block of Henderson Street, according to court records.
The green, four-door car was registered to Terry’s wife, who later told detectives that her husband had taken the car the day before — Jan. 16, 2004 — and not returned home.
In a later interview, Terry’s grandson, who was 5 at the time, told police that his grandfather had taken him to a video store and a Dollar General that day before going to Oliver’s Fish Market in North Little Rock. Terry picked up a man and two women there “to give them a ride,” court records show.
Terry then drove back to his house around 8 p.m., dropped off his grandson and then left with the three.
Other witnesses interviewed at the time couldn’t describe the people in Terry’s car. Detectives received little information until July 2006, when a man came forward who had been incarcerated with Norris. Norris has been in and out of state prison and county jails since 1999, according to Arkansas Department of Correction records.
The man, Robert McCann, told police that Norris and two women had gotten a ride from a man with his grandson. After dropping the child off, the grandfather had pulled over to relieve himself. Norris told McCann that he shot the grandfather in the back of the head, court records said.
Norris told McCann that he then drove the car to North Little Rock and set it on fire, court records said.
McCann said Norris had told him about the crime because he was worried the two women — identified as “Tillie” and “Shaneeka” — were going to “tell on him,” court records show.
Detectives weren’t able to locate the women until earlier this year, identifying one as Lashundra Reaves and the other as Shankia Brooks, according to the warrant.
In an interview with detectives in January, Reaves denied knowing anything about Terry’s death, court records show. Reaves faces a charge of hindering apprehension in Terry’s death.
About a month later, detectives interviewed Brooks, who said she saw Norris kill Terry in a series of events that corresponded with McCann’s earlier statement, court records show.
Brooks — who said the four had been looking to get some marijuana on the car trip — told detectives that Norris followed Terry out, shot him in the back of the head and then took his keys and wallet, court records show.
Norris then got back in the car and drove off with the women, Brooks told police.
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