Double homicide trial set to get underway Monday

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The circuit court jury trial of a Marion County man charged in the shooting deaths last September of two of his relatives is set to get underway Monday morning in Yellville.

Court records indicate 33-year-old Donald Steven Beckwith Jr. of Yellville was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder. However, in late April, amended sentence enhancement charges of committing a felony with a firearm and a felony in the presence of a child were added.

According to the probable cause affidavit, officers responded to the scene of the shooting to find Beckwith standing in the front yard of his residence along State Highway 14 South with a juvenile, later identified as his son, sitting on the ground behind him.

Officers were alerted to the incident by a 911 call from Beckwith’s girlfriend. Beckwith had allegedly called the woman saying she needed to come home and pick up their juvenile son because the Marion County man had just shot his uncle and grandfather.

Officers arrived and took Beckwith into custody without incident. Deputies observed two victims under tarps on the front porch deceased from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

The victims were identified as 59-year-old David Dewayne White, who had what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and extremities, and 89-year-old William Henry White, who had what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to his chest. There was a single spent .9mm round on the chest of David DeWayne White appearing to have stuck to his chest while he was face down.

Officers located eight spent .9mm cartridges on the porch of the residence near the front door. Another spent round was found on the porch near the body of David White.

While processing the scene, an unloaded handgun could be seen through the living room window on the couch.

In an interview with Beckwith’s girlfriend and his son, the juvenile told officers his dad and his uncle, David White, had gotten into an argument. His uncle punched his dad. At that point, Beckwith allegedly got up, went inside the house and retrieved a firearm his grandfather kept in the living room. Beckwith then went to the front porch and began shooting David White.

The juvenile said he was just inside the door of the residence near a piano and could see the two men during the incident. He said he saw his uncle “smoking” where he had been shot and also saw him raise his arms during the incident.

The juvenile said when his father stopped shooting, he came inside the residence, unloaded the firearm and placed it on the couch where officers found it.

During an interview with Beckwith, he is alleged to have admitted to grabbing a pistol and shooting his uncle to death during a physical altercation. He said his grandfather tried to get him to stop, but he pushed him off and continued to shoot at his uncle.

Beckwith said when he pushed his grandfather away, he accidentally shot him while shooting at his uncle.

He said when he finished shooting, he went inside to check on his son, reloaded the pistol magazine, but left the weapon unloaded on the couch. He said he sat down in a recliner for a short period of time before telling his son to get his things together because he would be going to stay with his mother.

He said he then called his girlfriend to tell her what had happened, saying he could not call the cops on himself.

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