Sex offender accused of injecting Texarkana teen with meth

Lonnie Lee Lunsford, 31,
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A registered sex offender accused of repeatedly injecting a teen girl with methamphetamine at his Texarkana, Ark., home is facing 40 possible life sentences.

Lonnie Lee Lunsford, Jr., 31, is required to register as a sex offender because of a 2003 conviction for coercion in Clark County, Nevada. In June, prosecutors in Miller County charged Lunsford with 40 counts of introducing a controlled substance into the body of another.

According to court records, Lunsford repeatedly gave the teen injections of meth at his home in the 500 block of Orleans Street in Texarkana, Ark. Counts one through ten accuse Lunsford of injecting the girl with meth in June 2014. Counts 11 through 20 allege Lunsford shot the girl up with meth in July 2014. Counts 21 through 30 allegedly occurred in January and counts 31 through 40 in February of this year.

Lunsford entered a not guilty plea to the charges at an arraignment hearing before Circuit Judge Brent Haltom June 30. Lunsford is scheduled to appear with Texarkana lawyer Garnet Norwood for a pre-trial hearing before Haltom next week.
The girl told investigators she wasn’t able to inject herself because of the pain but that Lunsford was able to shoot her up with the drug more easily. The girl reported that Lunsford used a standard insulin syringe to administer “30 unit bumps,” of methamphetamine.

Each of charges involving the teen girl in Texarkana is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison. Because of Lunsford’s prior criminal history however, prosecutors are seeking to increase the range of punishment to 10 to 60 years or life.

Lunsford’s bail is set at $250,000 on the controlled substance introduction charges. But even if he could come up with the cash for a bond, Lunsford won’t be released from the Miller County jail. He is being held without bond on two pending probation revocation petitions in Miller County. Lunsford received a 5-year probation in February 2014 for residential burglary. In October 2014 Lunsford received another 5-year probation for failing to register as a sex offender.

If Lunsford’s burglary probation is revoked, he could be sentenced to five to 20 years in prison. If his probation in Miller County for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements is revoked, Lunsford faces another three to 10 years.

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