FAYETTEVILLE -- Jury selection is underway in the murder trial of Mark Edward Chumley.
Chumley, 48, is charged with accomplice to capital murder in the killing of Victoria Annabeth Davis on Aug. 19, 2015. Police said Davis, 24, of 433 S. Hill Ave., was held captive at her house for hours and beaten by her husband, John Christopher Davis, 28, and others, including Chumley.
Washington County Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor ruled earlier the state could seek the death penalty against Chumley.
Grounds for the request are because the killing was done to prevent an arrest and in an especially depraved or cruel manner, according to prosecutors.
"She was beaten repeatedly. She was hooked up to a battery charger. She essentially bled to death from the beating she took. She was beaten with a baseball bat. She was raped with a baseball bat," Prosecutor Matt Durrett told a judge during an earlier hearing. "Those are the acts we allege constitute evidence of disregard for human life."
John Christopher Davis, 30, pleaded guilty in December to being an accomplice to first-degree murder. Davis was sentenced to 37 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction.
The other defendants include Rebecca Lee Lloyd, 39, and Christopher Lee Treat and Desire Amber Treat, both 32. All are charged with accomplice to capital murder and are being held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center.
NW News on 04/30/2018