FAYETTEVILLE -- A woman testified in a murder trial Wednesday morning, and immediately afterward, she was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Steven Maurice Rice, 24, of Pine Bluff and Keishayla Hill, 24, of Stuttgart were both charged with being accomplices to capital murder and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Mario Lamont Miller, 47, of Fayetteville on Aug. 11, 2020.
Rice's trial began Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court. Hill testified against Rice on Wednesday morning as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.
Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay then stopped the Rice trial and sentenced Hill to 40 years at the Arkansas Department of Corrections on a reduced charge of accomplice to first-degree murder and six years for tampering with physical evidence. The terms will run concurrently.
Hill testified that Miller raped her and she and Rice plotted to kill Miller. Hill said she gave Rice a pistol and he shot Miller in the head.
Miller's body was dumped, and Hill and Rice fled the area. They were arrested about 10 months later in Pine Bluff.
Rice's trial is continuing. He is still facing the original charges of accomplice to capital murder and tampering with physical evidence.
Steven Rice