TEXARKANA, Arkansas - A man who turned down a 40-year plea offer was sentenced Wednesday to consecutive life terms after being convicted of a double murder and other crimes in connection with a 2019 shooting in Texarkana.
Justin Dalton Wilson, 20, declined the offer for a 40-year term from prosecutors last week in the Aug. 28, 2019, shooting at a Texarkana, Arkansas, apartment complex which left two men dead and one permanently disabled while a young child watched a movie in a nearby bedroom. Wilson was found guilty of murder in the deaths of Scott Wiegman, 45, and Reginald Davis Sr., 55.
There is no parole from a life sentence in the state of Arkansas.
The jury sentenced Wilson to life terms plus 15 years on each count for use of a firearm. The jury recommended those terms run consecutively to one another and Circuit Judge Brent Haltom followed the recommendation. The murder sentences will run consecutive to a 30-year term for attempted murder of Lajhonta Collier plus 10 years for commission of a felony in the presence of a child.
Wilson received a six-year term for aggravated assault involving the 7-year-old child with an additional 15 years for use of a firearm. Witnesses testified that a bullet struck a wall on the child's bedroom where he was watching a recording of the Lion King movie.
Wilson was sentenced to 30 years for aggravated robbery with an additional 15 years for use of a firearm.
Wilson hung his head as Haltom read the punishment verdict aloud.
Collier testified Tuesday that he, Wiegmann and Davis were socializing in his apartment the night of Aug. 28, 2019, when Justin Wilson came to the door of unit 52 of the Shangri-La complex in Texarkana, Arkansas. Collier said he was unhappy that the adults allowed his son to answer the door.
Shortly after putting his son in his bedroom with a movie, Collier said Wilson began shooting. Collier said he was shot first and watched as his two friends were killed. Collier told the jury he was "100 percent" certain Wilson is the man who shot him. A trail of cash was discovered in and outside the apartment.
Two witnesses described a light-skinned African American male with curly hair wearing a white shirt and black pants running from the apartment. Wilson testified Wednesday under questioning from Texarkana defense lawyer Jeff Harrelson that he was in the apartment but that it was two men dressed in black who committed the crimes.
Wilson claimed that he was in a hallway walking from the bathroom when the two mystery men walked in the door following Wiegmann and that when they got into the apartment they began firing.
Wilson's account did not match the physical evidence. Under cross-examination by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Cotton, Wilson could not explain why he was the only person seen running from the apartment. He claimed that he earned cash found in a toaster oven at his mother's home in Lewisville, Arkansas, and that a vacuum sealed bag of marijuana identical to ones Collier had packaged in his apartment came from somewhere else.
Cotton asked Wilson about why he wouldn't have called 911 or eagerly told investigators his account if he was being accused of a crime he did not commit. Wilson has been in custody for approximately two years while his case was pending.
A Miller County jail inmate testified that Wilson told him his "biggest regret was not making sure" Collier was dead before fleeing the apartment.
Cotton and Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell argued in closing that Wilson's account was unbelievable.
"Two ninjas, one tall, one fat, and they just fly in here, the shooting starts and then they run out," Mitchell said. "If I was in jail for two years for something I didn't do I'd be screaming it from the rooftops."
Cotton and Mitchell argued that the law protects all people, regardless of whether they sell marijuana illegally.
"There's no dispute he was selling marijuana. That doesn't mean he didn't have a right to live. It doesn't mean his friends didn't have a right to live," Cotton argued.
After the jury returned verdicts of guilty on all charges, the jury heard victim impact testimony from Wiegmann's aunt, who traveled from a distant state to attend the trial.
The aunt testified that Wiegmann was caring daily for his aging parents at the time of his death. Wiegmann's father is bedridden and his mother died about a year after the murder of her son. Without Wiegmann available to care for them, his parents had to sell their Texarkana home and move closer to family in another state.
"His (Wiegmann's father) only hope now is to see justice served," the aunt testified.
Wiegmann's aunt read a statement written by Wiegmann's mother before her death last year.
"Scott was not only our son but our friend and primary caregiver. He took not only one life but changed two others drastically," the mother's statement said. "Don't let him free to cause this pain to someone else."
Cotton asked the jury to sentence Wilson to life in prison.
"He's not remorseful," Cotton argued. "Do you want these kinds of shootings to continue in our community? Do we want to say not here? You have a chance to do that with your verdict."