A Malvern man praised a woman he admitted to raping and threatening to kill and then asked a jury to sentence him to the maximum prison term Tuesday, the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reported.
The newspaper reported that Larry Lavelle Jones, 37, was then given the maximum sentence of life plus 60 years after pleading guilty to the 2014 rape in Hot Springs.
As Jones faced the jury for sentencing, he reportedly said, "I'm not asking for mercy. Do what you must."
The newspaper reported he then addressed the victim, calling her a "remarkable woman."
"... [Y]ou have a lot of people who love you," he said. "I look at rape the same as murder. I'm not asking for mercy. Go ahead with whatever the maximum is. I'm fine with that."
According to the newspaper, Jones testified that he was fired the morning of the assault following a work-place argument. He said he began drinking and driving around Hot Springs in anger before coming across the victim at the parking lot of the Hot Springs Mall.
Jones said he likely would have acted upon his threats to kill the woman had a witness not intervened during the rape.