A jury sentenced a man convicted in the beating death of a popular Arkansas TV personality to life in prison on Thursday, sparing him the death penalty after hearing testimony about his rocky upbringing by an abusive, drug-addicted mother.
Jurors deliberated less than three hours before recommending that Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the death of Anne Pressly. The jury also handed down a life sentence for rape, 20 years for burglary and 10 years for theft.
Pressly, 26, was an anchor on KATV’s Daybreak program and had a bit part in the US President George W. Bush biopic W. Pressly died on Oct. 25, last year, five days after a brutal assault that crushed her face and left her gasping for air.
Under state law, jurors had to select either the death penalty or a life sentence.
Vance’s mother testified on Thursday that she was an abusive mother, and a doctor said Vance showed signs of paranoia. Pressly’s mother, Patti Cannady, told jurors on Wednesday what it was like to lose an only child.
After the verdict was read, Cannady mouthed, “It’s OK,” to prosecutor Larry Jegley, nodded, and tucked her hands over her heart. As she left the courtroom, however, Cannady stopped and turned at the door.
She leaned toward the defense attorneys and said: “You protected someone who should have never been protected.”
Vance showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
Earlier on Thursday, Vance’s mother, Jacqueline Vance Burnett, told jurors she was an abusive mother who had a number of crack-fueled run-ins with the law.
Burnett said she worked as a prostitute to earn money for drugs and once snapped after a “date” fell through. She said Vance had been left in charge of a younger brother and that when she returned, the brother was smearing feces on a wall. Burnett said she threw Vance into a brick wall several times until he nearly passed out.
She also told jurors she would buy drugs with money her children received from government benefits after their fathers died and that she had spent time in prison for burglary, forgery and theft.
Vance’s mother said she has since gone through rehab.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS