Tony Cheatham was sentenced on Monday, February 18, for the shooting death of 29 year old Markieth Anderson, receiving 20 years for Manslaughter. 5GNEWS reached out to the family for a reaction to the sentence, We spoke to Bertha Peterson, Andersons aunt, and Shanice Anthony, his cousin.
Peterson stated” I feel like my nephew didn’t get the justice he was deserved for his death. His death was worth more than 20 years.”

Shanice Anthony stated, “I don’t understand how a person can leave, come back and kill a person and he is not charged with premeditated murder. To give a convicted felon with a violent past that was only out 2 months before he turned around and killed someone …….. court gave him a slap on the wrist .

Recap of April 16, 2020

On April 16, 2020, officers were dispatched to Chestnut Street in Stamps, Arkansas. Upon arrival, they encountered suspect Tony Cheatham, who was pacing by his vehicle, and victim Markieth Anderson, lying beside a Tahoe with a handgun next to his left hand. Sadly, Mr. Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene.

During the interview, Cheatham explained that he had been shooting dice with four or five people at 159 Chestnut Street and had lost a significant amount of money. In desperation, he pawned his vehicle to Markeith Anderson for $1,000. However, to retrieve his car, Cheatham was supposed to pay Mr. Anderson $1,500. When Cheatham returned to where Anderson was located, an argument ensued. According to Cheatham, Anderson refused to return the car. The situation escalated, resulting in a struggle during which Anderson pulled out a gun and shot at Cheatham. Cheatham managed to wrestle the gun away and fired back at Anderson twice. The details of how many times he hit Anderson remain unclear to Cheatham. After the shooting, he couldn’t recall what he did with the weapon, but he believes he dropped it. Cheatham then waited for the police to arrive.