FORT SMITH — Sebastian County Prosecutor Dan Shue announced Tuesday he will seek the death penalty in the case of a Fort Smith man charged in the stabbing death of his pregnant wife and the subsequent death of their child.
James Saylor Herring, 34, faces two counts of capital murder.
Herring was arrested May 15 after his wife, 32-year-old Celestia Marie Duffin collapsed in the lobby of the Fort Smith Police Department at 12:22 p.m., just after asking for help and telling the desk officers she’d been stabbed.
Police officers in the lobby ran from behind the front desk to check on her. They found the woman had a stab wound to her chest, directly over her heart.
Duffin was pronounced dead at Sparks Regional Medical Center. Her baby, Keagan Wayne Herring, was removed by C-section but died before he could be airlifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In a letter to Sebastian County Circuit Judge James Cox, and copied to Chief Public Defender Ray Spruell, Shue cited the following factors in deciding to seek the death penalty:
• The sufficiency of the evidence.
• The seriousness of the offense.
• Herring’s culpability and criminal record.
• Aggravating circumstances versus mitigating circumstances.
• Potential victim impact evidence.
Shue wrote that before reaching his decision, he consulted both law enforcement and the victims’ family.
Herring is being held in the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center without bond. He pleaded innocent to two counts of capital murder at his May 17 arraignment.
If Herring is convicted of capital murder and the jury rejects a death sentence, Herring will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Jeff Arnold writes for the Times Record in Fort Smith.