A Miller County jury handed down two, 30-year prison sentences Thursday afternoon for a Texarkana man who sexually abused the daughter of a family he lived with from the time he was 11.
Quayvon Kentrell Peoples, 22, was found guilty of two counts of rape and acquitted of a third by the jury of seven men and five women. The jury heard testimony all day Wednesday and returned to court Thursday morning to hear closing arguments. Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Connie Mitchell and Kristian Young argued that Peoples betrayed the family that took him in when his own mother could no longer handle his behavior in 2006. Peoples was represented by Texarkana attorney Bart Craytor.
The victim, who is now 14, testified Wednesday that Peoples began abusing her when she about 6 or 7 years old. The victim’s older brother, 17, testified Wednesday that he did not know what to do when he walked in on Peoples, whom he looked up to, sexually abusing his younger sister in the bedroom Peoples and the brother shared.
Circuit Judge Brent Haltom ordered that Peoples will serve the two 30-year sentences concurrently. Peoples will be parole eligible after he has served 21 years of his sentence.
