CONWAY -- A Faulkner County jury convicted a Conway man of capital murder in the death of a father who had gone to help his daughter with a flat tire.
The circuit court jury deliberated about 1½ hours before returning the verdict against Sammie Thomas Jr., 40, in the Sept. 9, 2016, shooting death of Robert Lee Givens, 66, also of Conway, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Carol Crews said.
Thomas also was charged with possession of a firearm by certain persons -- a convicted felon in his case. That charge was severed from the capital-murder case, Crews said.
Judge Charles Clawson Jr. sentenced Thomas to life in prison without parole. The prosecution had waived the death penalty, the other sentence for capital murder under Arkansas law.
Thomas was in jail on other charges when authorities identified him as a suspect in the Givens killing.
Shortly after the crime, Conway police said Givens' daughter told them that her father had taken her to a Walmart store to get something to fix a flat tire. After they left the store, a tan sport utility vehicle approached from behind them and flashed its lights, prompting her father to pull over, she told police.
The daughter said she heard the SUV driver say he thought her father was someone else, according to police. The men exchanged words and her dad drove away, she said. A short time later, the SUV driver pulled up beside them and shot her father, she told police.
State Desk on 09/28/2018