Man sentenced to 30 years in kidnapping of 15-year-old Texarkana girl

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A Texarkana man was sentenced to 30 years in prison last week for kidnapping a 15-year-old girl from her Texarkana, Arkansas, home Sept. 1, 2020.

David Aaron Love, 26, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, residential burglary and theft of property at a hearing Feb. 1 before Circuit Judge Carlton Jones. Court records show Love was sentenced to 30 years for kidnapping, 20 years for burglary and 6 years for theft with all terms to run concurrently. A charge of rape was dismissed as part of the plea bargain.

Love entered the girl’s home Sept. 1, 2020, while she was home alone and her parents were at work, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Love attacked her as she walked back into her bedroom following a trip to the bathroom.

Love tied the girl up and forced her into her parents’ 2004 Ford Explorer. He tied her to the inside of the car and made her wear sunglasses and a face mask as he drove around. Love drove back to the girl’s house and left her in the car as he walked to rear of her family’s home.

While Love was away, the girl managed to free herself and run to a neighbor’s home for help. Love fled in the stolen Explorer. He was arrested the following day in Sevier County, Arkansas.

Love was sentenced to five years in prison in 2015 for attempted robbery in Bowie County, Texas. He was initially charged with sexual assault in 2014 for attacking a jogger at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, Texas. The charge was reduced to attempted robbery as part of a plea bargain. Love was released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in September 2019, according to Bowie County district court records.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell said Love will have to serve at least 70 percent of the 30-year sentence for kidnapping and may be required to serve all of it because of his prior convictions.

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