Jury selection begins Monday in Bowie County murder case

Christopher Guilbeau
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 Marquell Smith
Marquell Smith
Jury selection is expected to begin Monday at the Bowie County courthouse for one of three defendants accused of murder in the shooting of a Texarkana man in 2015.

Marquell Deonte Smith, 22, is one of three defendants facing a murder charge in the February 2015 death of Christopher Guilbeau, 24. Smith and co-defendant Brandon Brown, 23, were arrested March 5 driving Guilbeau’s pickup in Tulsa, Okla., according to a probable cause affidavit. The day before, members of Guilbeau’s family reported him missing to police in Texarkana, Ark. Arkansas-side police flagged the truck in a national database as stolen and wanted in connection with a missing person case.

Guilbeau was found dead in a Texarkana, Texas, alley March 6, 2015. Investigators believe he was killed days earlier, around Feb. 23, 2015, according to court records. Shamari Newton, 25, who was reportedly dating Smith at the time of the murder, was arrested in Tacoma, Washington several months after the men were picked up in Oklahoma. Newton has been subpoenaed to testify at Smith’s trial.

Brown is expected to go to trial later this year. Smith faces five to 99 years or life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder in Guilbeau’s death. Opening statements and witness testimony are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in New Boston before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.

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