NEWPORT -- A Jackson County Circuit Court jury found a Newport man guilty of capital murder Wednesday in the 2013 shooting death of a 20-month old girl, 3rd Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce said.
Circuit Judge Harold Erwin sentenced Robert Reese Friar, 37, to life in prison without parole, along with an additional 165 years for two counts of attempted capital murder and seven counts of committing a terroristic act.
The six-man, six-woman jury took three hours to render the guilty verdict, Boyce said.
Friar was charged in the Feb. 27, 2013, shooting death of Tacquari Briggs as she lay in bed with her mother, Delana Aquirre.
Police said Friar shot seven times through a bedroom window of Aquirre's apartment when Tacquari was hit by a bullet that passed through her lung and heart. She was taken to Harris Hospital in Newport, where she was pronounced dead.
Aquirre was shot three times and survived.
Boyce said the shooting was motivated by jealousy.
The sentences, which will be served consecutively, came on what would have been Tacquari's fourth birthday, he said.
"This was an extremely violent crime which involved 16 witnesses and eight days of trial," Boyce said. "The jury's verdict hopefully sends a message that gun violence will not be tolerated."
State Desk on 06/18/2015