A 47-year-old Hot Springs woman has avoided a possible death sentence by pleading guilty to killing her 71-year-old mother and her 8-year-old daughter.
Court documents show Melissa Galey pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to two terms of life in prison.
Prosecutors had previously announced they would seek the death penalty.
Galey admitted in a signed plea agreement that she is “not innocent” and “did in fact” kill her mother, Wanda Self, and daughter, Megan Galey at Self’s home in November 2018.
Investigators say Self and Megan Galey were stabbed to death and Melissa Galey was found climbing out from an area underneath the house, which authorities say appeared to have been set on fire.
An arson charge against Melissa Galey was dismissed.
