A Waldron man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to fatally stabbing his longtime girlfriend during an argument last year over a Facebook contact.
Daniel Roseberry, 47, who was to go on trial Jan. 17 in Scott County Circuit Court, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder under a plea agreement with the state and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Jerry Don Ramey.
A conviction for first-degree murder is punishable by a prison sentence of 10 to 40 years or life.
Roseberry was accused of killing Lavonda Legitt, 53, with whom he had been living for 13 years, according to court records. A police affidavit said that after killing Legitt, Roseberry called the Waldron Police Department to report the killing and waited outside the apartment for the police to arrive.
Roseberry called the police about 7:45 p.m. Dec. 8, according to the affidavit. Responding officers found Legitt sitting against a wall with large wounds in her abdomen and neck.
After being taken into custody, Roseberry told investigators what happened. According to the affidavit, he said he had been suffering from mental abuse from Legitt for years. The two spent most of the day Dec. 8 arguing over a Facebook contact Roseberry made the day before with a woman.
That evening, Legitt had gone to the bedroom while Roseberry stayed in the kitchen/living room area of their apartment. He received a phone call from one of his daughters asking if everything was OK because she had seen a Facebook posting by Legitt indicating there was something wrong with their relationship.
While talking on the phone, the affidavit said, Legitt came out of the bedroom and started to argue with him. She threw her phone into the kitchen where it hit the counter and broke into pieces.
Roseberry told police that when Legitt straightened up after picking up one of the pieces, he got up from the chair, grabbed her by the hair and stabbed her in the stomach with a knife he had been sharpening, the affidavit said.
He pulled out the knife with an upward motion and then stabbed Legitt in the neck, the affidavit said. She fell to the floor immediately.
Roseberry put on a shirt and called 911, the affidavit said.
State Desk on 11/12/2016