The death sentence for an Arkansas man convicted in the 2015 shootings of his wife and daughter was replaced with life in prison after a plea deal approved in Garland County Circuit Court on Oct. 26, the Execution Intervention Project and the defendant’s lawyer said.
case and disposition
Eric Reid, 66, agreed to the deal in Garland County Circuit Court in Hot Springs, according to a news release from the Execution Intervention Project. Reid had been sentenced to death in 2018 for the Oct. 19, 2015, killings of his wife, Laura Reid, and his daughter, Mary Ann Reid, court records show.
Reid’s attorney, Lee Short, told USA TODAY that the plea agreement followed presentation of new evidence to the Garland County prosecuting attorney’s office. In a statement reported by USA TODAY, Short said,
“Eric Reid is not the worst of the worst. As it turns out, he is far from it. The death penalty is a deeply flawed process, and credit is due to the Garland County Prosecuting Attorney’s office for righting this wrong.”
Rev. Jeff Hood, described by the Execution Intervention Project as Reid’s spiritual adviser and an anti-death-penalty activist, said the plea allows the state to impose punishment while avoiding execution. In an interview with USA TODAY, Hood said,
“The plea deal allows the state to punish a murderer but 'move past murder.' Arkansas has created this space for Eric to be a part of building a future to all who have been affected by this, instead of continuing along a path of destruction that would include executing him.”
background and context
Court records indicate the shootings followed an argument between Reid and his daughter over parenting. According to the records cited by media outlets, Reid retrieved a pistol and shot his wife three times and fired at his daughter. After the shootings, Reid walked to the driveway and waited for police, the records show.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections lists 23 men on the state's death row. Arkansas has not carried out an execution since April 2017; that month then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered a series of executions, a period noted by the Death Penalty Information Center.
next steps and official comment
- The Execution Intervention Project announced the agreement in a news release.
- The Garland County prosecuting attorney’s office received new evidence that led to reconsideration of the sentence, Reid’s lawyer said.
- The Arkansas attorney general’s office and the Garland County prosecuting attorney’s office were contacted for comment by USA TODAY, according to that outlet’s reporting.
The case now stands at the disposition reached in Garland County Circuit Court on Oct. 26. The presumption of innocence no longer applies to Reid with regard to the 2018 conviction and sentence; he was convicted and previously sentenced to death, and the court approved replacing that sentence with life in prison under the terms reported.
