The son of a Marion County man, charged in a double homicide involving two relatives, says he saw his uncle “smoking” from where he had been shot in the altercation on the evening of September 1st.
The man arrested for the shoooting, 32-year-old Donald Steven Beckwith Jr. of Yellville, was in court Wednesday and had his bond reduced. Beckwith appeared before Circuit Judge Gordon Webb and entered a not guilty plea. His bond was reduced from $1M to $350,000.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday, officers responded to the scene of the shooting to find Beckwith standing in the front yard of the residence along Highway 14 South in Marion County, with a juvenile sitting on the ground behind him.
Officers were alerted to the incident by a 911 call from Beckwith’s girlfriend advising there had been a shooting at the residence. The woman had been alerted of the incident from a phone call from Beckwith 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 at the scene 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 in close proximity to the front door. Another spent round was found on the porch near the living room window where David White had been lying.
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 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 both his father and uncle 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 officers of grabbing a pistol and shooting his uncle to death during a physical altercation. He said his grandfather came outside trying 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 pushed him in front of him and 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.
Beckwith has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
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