Arkansas White Woman Befriends Mom's Negro Killer Who Then Murders Her

[G.L.R.]

Ark. Woman Befriended Mom's Killer Out of 'Spiritual Obligation' — and then He Murdered Her

Big-hearted, gregarious and always up for an adventure, Martha McKay surrounded herself with friends. "She left an impression on people. She had that gift." McKay's family and friends were devastated when she was killed on March 25, 2020, at Snowden House, the historic antebellum-style home on Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas... McKay, 63, was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death at the top of the stairs, near a bag filled with her belongings, as well as a utility knife. Authorities were shocked when they pulled the body of her killer out of the lake (he'd jumped in and drowned during a police chase): it was Travis Lewis, who'd been convicted at 17 for the horrific 1996 murders of her mother, Sally Snowden McKay, 75, and her cousin, Joseph "Lee" Baker, 52, a prominent Memphis blues guitarist. Lewis pleaded guilty to the murders but never confessed, maintaining that another man killed the two, say police.

"Hours later, the body was fished out using sonar equipment, and it was determined to be Travis Lewis. According to the police, he had cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana in his system".

Knowing how forgiving McKay was, family and friends were still shocked when she befriended him after he went to prison (Lewis was sentenced to 28 ½ years after pleading guilty). Family friend Frank Byrd, who'd driven McKay to the state penitentiary to see Lewis, told her he didn't think it was a good idea... Her family also warned her to be careful. "We had said, 'Just stay away from him. It's a bad juju type of thing.' But she wouldn't do it," says Hutton. A longtime Buddhist, McKay wrote Lewis letters in prison and supported his early, paroled release. "We were contacted every time he came up for parole," says Hutton. "None of us would OK it except for her."– and believed his claim that someone else was responsible, says Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen.

When Lewis was finally released on parole in 2018, McKay quietly gave him a job doing work on the property, Hutton says. But before her death, she fired him. Police had heard about a theft at McKay's house before her murder... After she died, Hutton read in her diary that she'd sold a chandelier for $10,000 cash, which she stashed in the house. Travis happened to be there that day, says Hutton. "Then the money vanished. She fired him after the money disappeared," she says. The family is still reeling from the fact that the same man killed her sister, mother, and cousin – 23 years apart.

Ark. Woman Befriended Mom's Killer, Then He Murdered Her
https://people.com/crime/ark-woman-befriended-moms-killer-out-of-spiritual-obligation-and-then-he-murdered-her

Martha McKay Murder: Who Killed Her? Where is Travis Lewis Now?
https://thecinemaholic.com/martha-mckay-murder-how-did-travis-lewis-die