A Texarkana man received a 60-year prison sentence Wednesday from a Miller County jury for raping a 13-year-old girl.
Tyree Maurice Goins, 33, must serve at least 70 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. During the punishment phase of Goins’ trial, the jury heard testimony from a second girl who claims Goins touched her inappropriately while in Texarkana, Texas. A charge of indecency with a child by contact is pending against him in Bowie County.
Because Goins had two prior felony convictions for drug offenses, the range of punishment he faced was enhanced to 25 to 60 years or life.
The victim testified Tuesday that she met Goins when she would walk from her residence at Chapel Ridge Apartments in Texarkana, Ark., to the Fox Creek Apartments next door. The girl said she often played with young children, including Goins’. The girl said Goins asked hre if she wanted to ride with him to the store during February or March 2015.
After a trip to Dollar General, the girl said Goins drove her to a secluded spot and sexually assaulted her in his children’s mother’s burgundy car. The girl said Goins sexually assaulted her repeatedly until the abuse was discovered in January 2016 and reported to authorities. The girl’s brother discovered text messages and showed them to the girl’s mother.
“A 31-year-old man tells her he loves her. Imagine how confusing that is for a 13-year-old,” argued Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristian Robertson in closing. “He took her innocence and that can never be restored.”
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell referred in her closing argument to jailhouse recordings of phone conversations played during the trial Wednesday morning. On the recordings, Goins asks the victim’s mother’s twin sister to tell the victim’s mother not to come to court.
The victim’s mother testified Wednesday that Goins once offered to give her money after the charges were filed.
“How much money do you think it would take for a mother to put her child through this for two years,” Mitchell said. “He did all he could to keep them from coming to court. Are those these actions of an innocent man? No.”
