True Crime Chronicles: Family -related triple homicide sent the killer to state prison for three consecutive life terms
- Dennis McCaslin
- Mar 28
- 4 min read
Hunter Nolan Chenoweth stood trial in Madison County Circuit Court in early February 2025 for the killings of three family members at a rural home southwest of Huntsville. On the second day of proceedings, after prosecutors had presented their opening evidence, Chenoweth changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on three counts of capital murder.
Madison County Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor accepted the plea and sentenced the 26-year-old defendant from DeQueen to three consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence represented the minimum penalty available for capital murder in the case and eliminated any chance of appeal.
The crimes occurred on February 23, 2021, at the residence located at 3487 County Road 6041, south of Wesley in Madison County. Deputies from the Madison County Sheriff's Department arrived at the home around 5 p.m. following a report and discovered the bodies of Tami Lynn Chenoweth, age 51, James Stanley McGhee, age 59, and Cheyene Chenoweth, age 26.
All three had died from gunshot wounds. Medical examiner testimony during the trial described the wounds in detail: Tami Lynn Chenoweth and James Stanley McGhee each sustained multiple shots to the head, fired from behind, while Cheyene Chenoweth received a single gunshot wound that entered through the chin.
Cheyene Chenoweth also suffered multiple stab wounds. The medical examiner stated that the injuries would have caused death within seconds.
A one-year-old child, the infant of Cheyene Chenoweth, was present in the home at the time of the killings and was taken from the residence. Arkansas State Police issued a statewide alert for the missing child along with descriptions of two vehicles believed to have left the scene. Investigators quickly developed leads pointing to Hunter Nolan Chenoweth as the person responsible.
Chenoweth, then 22 years old and residing in DeQueen in Sevier County, had family connections to the victims. Tami Lynn Chenoweth was his mother. James Stanley McGhee was his stepfather. Cheyene Chenoweth was his sister. At the time of the incident, Chenoweth was free on bond from a prior case and subject to a court order prohibiting contact with McGhee.
According to statements given to Arkansas State Police investigators after his arrest, an argument began at the home involving Chenoweth and his mother. Chenoweth claimed his mother pointed a gun at him during the dispute. He admitted to shooting her, then confronting and killing his sister in another part of the house through a combination of stabbing and shooting.
When his stepfather returned home from work later, Chenoweth killed him as well.
Chenoweth then took the infant and left the residence with a 25-year-old woman from DeQueen who had been present. The woman drove one of the vehicles during the subsequent flight.
Sate police coordinated a search for the two vehicles. One was located abandoned in Faulkner County near Mayflower along Interstate 40. The second vehicle, a van, was spotted traveling westbound on Interstate 30 near Benton later that evening. Troopers initiated a traffic stop. Chenoweth exited the van armed with a rifle and verbally provoked the officers, at one point asking them to shoot him.
Additional troopers approached from behind and took him into custody without further gunfire. The infant was found inside the van, unharmed, and was returned to family members. The 25-year-old woman who had driven the van was questioned but faced no charges in connection with the homicides.
Chenoweth was initially held at the Saline County Detention Center and later transferred. He faced three counts of capital murder. In March 2021 he entered a not-guilty plea during arraignment in Washington County before the case moved forward in Madison County. Bond was set at one million dollars but was later revoked.
Over the next four years the trial faced multiple delays due to scheduling issues, discovery matters, and other factors, with the start date eventually set for early 2025.Jury selection began in Huntsville the week of February 3, 2025. The trial opened on February 6 with prosecutors describing the killings as systematic. Defense attorneys noted that questions about the exact sequence of events might remain.
Witnesses included Chenoweth's siblings, Arkansas State Police agents, and a forensic pathologist. The jury heard recordings of phone calls Chenoweth made from jail to a younger sister in which he attempted to influence her testimony. On February 7, after the prosecution rested its case and following the denial of a defense motion for mistrial related to a technical issue with the presentation of crime scene photographs, Chenoweth entered the guilty plea.
Family members of the victims spoke publicly in the days after the 2021 killings. Heaven McGhee, a daughter of James Stanley McGhee, described her father as a man who had faced personal troubles but had been doing well and making positive changes. She recalled that both McGhee and Tami Lynn Chenoweth were people who helped others when needed.
She said Cheyene Chenoweth was consistently happy and deeply devoted to her infant child.
Other relatives, including McGhee's sister Kathy McCool, expressed the sudden loss that affected two extended families. A cousin of both victims and the suspect described the family as God-fearing people who enjoyed normal activities such as vacations together.
Hunter Nolan Chenoweth remains incarcerated serving the three consecutive life sentences.
The case concluded without a full jury verdict or penalty phase because of the mid-trial plea. No additional charges related to the child abduction were pursued against him in the final resolution, as the infant was recovered safely and the focus remained on the homicide counts.
The rapid arrest stemmed from coordinated work between the Madison County Sheriff's Department and Arkansas State Police, including the Criminal Investigation Division, which allowed evidence collection at the scene and vehicle recovery to support the prosecution's case.
