A woman accused of killing her boyfriend with a brick in a Texarkana, Texas, apartment pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder.
Lamarya Rachelle Bradley, 54, also known as Margie, appeared with Deborah Moore of the Bowie County Public Defenders office for arraignment before 102nd District Judge Jeff Addison on Tuesday afternoon.
Moore entered a not guilty plea for Bradley and told Addison she has filed a motion for a bond reduction in the case. Bradley’s bail is currently set at $1 million. Assistant District Attorney Randle Smolarz said the state opposes reducing Bradley’s bail and requested that the court set the matter for a separate hearing. Addison set Bradley’s case for a pretrial hearing Aug. 6.
Bradley was arrested March 1 in the death of 62-year-old Willis Hart Sanders. Sanders was found dead after his landlord noticed a strange odor coming from Willis’ apartment in the 2100 block of West 10th Street in Texarkana, Texas.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Bradley was lying face up in a pool of blood when his body was found. Neighbors told police they had last seen Sanders around Feb. 19 and that he was in the company of a woman known as Margie. Officers learned that Margie is a nickname used by Bradley and that she and Sanders were “known to fight,” according to an earlier press release from Texarkana, Texas, police.
In the apartment, crime scene investigators found a brick stained with blood inside a pillow case under the bed and several shirts stained with blood. Officers located Bradley on the night of March 1 and she allegedly agreed to speak to Texarkana, Texas, police detectives.
Bradley allegedly told the detectives that she went to Sanders’ apartment some time around Feb. 19 to watch movies and that the two began drinking. Bradley allegedly told the investigators that Sanders became angry at her and threw a glass whiskey bottle.
Bradley allegedly told detectives that Sanders would not let her leave and that he began choking her on the floor. Bradley allegedly claims she grabbed a brick from under the bed and used it to strike Sanders in the head. According to the affidavit, Sanders had a large gash in the back of his head.
Bradley allegedly told detectives that after she hit Sanders in the head with the brick he quit moving or talking. Bradley stated that she put the brick in a pillow case and stuck it under the bed and that she used shirts to wipe up blood and that she put a shirt under Sanders’ neck in an attempt to stop his bleeding. Bradley did not attempt to get medical assistance for Sanders.
If found guilty of murder, Bradley faces five to 99 years or life in prison.
