A Garland County Circuit Court jury only took about 10 minutes Tuesday to recommend a sentence of 25 years in prison for a Marion man for the 2016 armed robbery of a Hot Springs convenience store.
Terrell Deshawn Thomas, 24, had pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated robbery, a felony punishable by up to life in prison, in connection with the Aug. 3, 2016, robbery of the Shell convenience store, 866 Park Ave., after fingerprints left on a bag of chips lead to his arrest 16 days later.
Deputy Prosecutor Kara Petro said they were unable to come to an agreement regarding his sentence. They instead left it up to an eight-woman, four-man jury to decide his fate after hearing one day of testimony Tuesday from Hot Springs police, state crime lab personnel, the store clerk he robbed and other witnesses. Thomas did not testify.
She noted Thomas will have to serve 70 percent, or about 17 and a half years, before he is eligible for parole. Petro and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham represented the state and attorney Clay Janske represented Thomas.
Petro said Thomas "really had no choice" except to plead guilty since his fingerprints were found at the scene, they had video of him in the store and police found the clothing he wore and a BB gun that resembled a real gun he had used during the robbery when he was arrested. She also noted he had acknowledged to detectives it was him when shown the video.
Thomas is charged with a second count of aggravated robbery in connection with the May 15, 2016, armed robbery of Burger King, 228 W. Grand Ave., and with attempted aggravated robbery and other charges in connection with what police believe was the botched armed robbery of the Holiday Inn Express, 205 Metha Court, about an hour after the Burger King robbery.
Thomas is scheduled to stand trial on the aggravated robbery charge from the Burger King on Sept. 25 and is set to stand trial on the attempted robbery charge in October, but Petro said they may have a disposition hearing on the charges before then.
Thomas is classified as a habitual offender, having been convicted of two felony counts of theft of property on April 22, 2013, in Crittenden County. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with the entire sentence suspended.
According to the probable cause affidavit regarding the Shell robbery, on Aug. 3, 2016, a female employee, 57, told police a black male entered the store, selected a bag of chips and approached the register. As he placed them on the counter, the man pulled out a handgun, pointed it at her head and demanded money from the register.
She gave the man an undisclosed amount of money and he fled to a waiting vehicle. Surveillance footage captured the incident and the bag of chips was submitted to the state crime lab for fingerprints.
On Aug. 8, 2016, the crime lab matched the fingerprints collected from the chip bag to Thomas.
According to the affidavits from the May 15 incidents, at around 10 p.m. police responded to a reported robbery at the Burger King where two employees, ages 28 and 22, said a black male entered the restaurant armed with a handgun and demanded money from the safe. The suspect fled when employees told him that only a manager could open the safe.
At around 11:30 p.m. that same night, a manager at Holiday Inn Express reported that an unknown suspect forced open the register while an employee was taking a break. Surveillance footage showed a black male breaking into the register and then going to the office area, stealing a small safe containing an undisclosed amount of money.
It was determined to be the same suspect from the earlier Burger King robbery, wearing some of the same clothing. A surveillance photo was published in The Sentinel-Record and posted on social media to try to identify the suspect.
A relative of Thomas told detectives she had seen the photo in The Sentinel-Record from the Burger King robbery and reportedly identified the suspect as Thomas leading to his arrest on Aug. 19, 2016.
Local on 06/20/2018