LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An Arkansas man accused of firing his gun into another driver’s car and killing a 3-year-old boy in the back seat has been convicted of murder.
Jurors on Wednesday found Gary Eugene Holmes guilty of first-degree murder and terroristic threatening in the December 2016 death of Acen King. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
The boy’s grandmother says she was stopped at a stop sign when Holmes honked his horn, got out of his car and fired into her car. A police affidavit says a woman who was in Holmes’ car told investigators he was angry because he thought the car behind him was tailing him too closely.
Defense attorneys argued the shooting could have been accidental and that Holmes shouldn’t be charged with murder.