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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A jury sentenced a man to life in prison Thursday for the beating death of a popular Arkansas television personality, sparing him the death penalty after hearing testimony about his rocky upbringing by an abusive, drug-addicted mother. Jurors deliberated less than three hours before recommending that Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the death of Anne Pressly. They also handed down a life sentence for rape, 20 years for burglary and 10 years for theft.Pressly, 26, was an anchor on KATV's "Daybreak" program and had a bit part in...

Prosecutors rested their capital murder case against Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, after testimony from the state's deputy medical examiner, who spoke about Pressly's final moments of consciousness. Vance, of Marianna, has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape and burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Dr. Stephen Erickson said an examination of Pressly's body after her death revealed that her face shattered "like an egg" during the attack. "I could feel crunchiness" while examining Pressly's face, he said. A photo he used showed her nose pushed to one side. Erickson said some type of object likely was used...

Judge receives mental update in Pressly case Slaying suspect has confessed three times, prosecutors say BY JOHN LYNCH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE The Marianna man accused of killing TV news anchor Anne Pressly has “confessed” three times to the slaying, a Pulaski County prosecutor revealed during a court hearing Tuesday. The claim by chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson prompted a challenge from defendant Curtis Lavelle Vance, who said his statements were made under duress because Little Rock police had threatened his life. “That was under extreme pressure,” Vance said. “I had a gun in my face.” Prosecutors denied Vance’s allegations of coercion...

Freepers: Need a little "thinking outside the box" from you on a little subject I am having trouble dealing with here in Little Rock, AR. I need some technical advice since I don't have time to research while and work, and just love hearing Freeper stories and advice. After the burglary, rape, beating, and murder of Anne Pressley (KATV News Anchor) in a very nice part of Little Rock, the local neighborhood association is fed up with crime and has resorted to.....PEPPER SPRAY! Yes that's right, the neighborhood association, over 100 years old and full of liberals, is reluctant to...

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 The Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The parents of a television anchorwoman beaten to death at her home said Monday their daughter was sexually assaulted during the attack, and an arrest warrant released by police says DNA evidence linked an eastern Arkansas man to the crime "with all scientific certainty." In a television interview on NBC's Today show, Guy and Patti Cannady said Anne Pressly, 26, was beaten so severely that a portion of her jawbone was broken away. The couple said their daughter also broke her left hand while trying...

The parents of the television anchorwoman who was beaten to death said Monday there is evidence their daughter also was sexually assaulted, and that she broke her hand fighting her attacker. Five days after a suspect was arrested in the Oct. 20 beating of KATV anchorwoman Anne Pressly, Guy and Patti Cannady said on NBC's "Today" that the family still has many questions about the killing.

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Little Rock Police say they have arrested the man wanted in the beating death of Little Rock television anchor Anne Pressly. During a 10:00 p.m. news conference Wednesday night, police issued a warrant for Curtis Lavelle Vance, 28, of Marianna, Arkansas, charging him with capital murder in Pressly's beating. Our Little Rock sister station tells us Vance was arrested at the intersection of 24th & Cross in Little Rock. The anchorwoman's mother found her body Oct. 20, a half-hour before Pressly was due on KATV's 5 a.m. "Daybreak" program. Pressly had been beaten about the head...

A killer remains at large 25 days after attacking Anne Pressly in her home causing her death. There are still many unanswered questions. Now apparently there are also some unasked questions. Behind Anne's home is a vacant house undergoing renovations. It has remained empty other than contract workers the homeowner has hired to remodel it. The home owner talked to us and wonders why police have still not talked to him. "Officers have made several visits to the neighborhood making contact with the neighbors." But police have not contacted this neighbor. "You could stand on our back deck and throw...

An Arkansas television anchorwoman died Saturday, several days after she didn't answer her wake-up call and was found beaten in her home, hospital officials said. Anne Pressly, 26, died at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Margaret Preston said.

The credit card of a television anchor woman left in critical condition after a brutal beating in her home was used in the minutes following the attack. Anne Pressly's credit card was used at a Shell gas station near her Little Rock, Ark., home between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Monday morning, an attendant told America's Most Wanted. Shell station clerk Shiva Reddy told FOX16.com that police did visit the station at Interstate 30 and 9th Street on Tuesday to request surveillance video from early Monday morning, in the hours around the time Pressly was brutally beaten.