Cedric Marks and Maya Maxwell Indicted For Capital Murder
The man accused of murdering Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin and his accused accomplice, Maya Renee Maxwell, were indicted on capital murder charges in Bell County Wednesday.
44-year-old Cedric Marks remains in the Bell County Jail. Records indicate he's charged with capital murder of multiple persons, tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair verity, interference with an emergency call, giving a false report to police, violation of a protective order, and burglary of a habitation with intention to commit another felony. His bonds total $1,766,500.
Investigators believe Marks forced Scott and Swearingin into separate rooms of a home in Killeen on January 3 before taking their lives. According to our partners at News 10, autopsy results indicate Swearingin was strangled and likely died of asphyxiation. Scott's autopsy results indicate she passed away as a result of "homicidal violence". More details were not yet available.
After their deaths, Scott and Swearingin were transported to a rural property in Okfusee County, Oklahoma and buried.
According to 26-year-old Maxwell, she was with Marks the night of the murders. She reportedly told investigators she saw Marks enter a room in which Swearingin was located, then heard a struggle. Maxwell said Swearingin was dead when Marks left that room. Maxwell said she saw Marks enter a room in which Scott was located, and again heard a struggle. Scott was dead when Marks left the room, Maxwell said.
Maxwell was arrested on January 11 after she reportedly admitted to moving Swearingin's vehicle to Austin in hopes of concealing it from police. Police say she later admitted to having gone to Oklahoma with Marks and helped bury Scott and Swearingin's remains, and told investigators where to find the bodies. She remained in the Bell County Jail Wednesday on charges of capital murder of multiple persons and tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair verity. Her bonds total $500,000.
Cedric Marks, an ex-MMA fighter and former boyfriend of Scott's, was arrested in Grand Rapids, Michigan in January and extradited to Bell County on January 31 for a burglary charge. (Police say he broke into Scott's home in Temple in August of 2018.)
On Sunday, February 3, Marks escaped the custody of private prison transfer firm Texas Prisoner Transport Services during a lunch stop in Conroe. He led police on a nearly 9-hour manhunt before being recaptured.
Marks' wife, 37-year-old Ginell McDonough, was arrested on January 11 in Muskegon, Michigan for harboring a fugitive. According to an article from Stars and Stripes, McDonough is suspected of harboring Marks and Maxwell.