BELL COUNTY, Texas — Cedric Marks' alleged accomplice in his 2019 double murder, Maya Maxwell, pleaded guilty to two counts of tampering and fabricating evidence of a human corpse on Tuesday, Aug. 1.
Maxwell had accepted a plea deal back in Oct. 2021. In this deal, Maxwell was asked to testify against Cedric Marks during his trial and in exchange, she would face up to 20 years on the two counts of tampering evidence with a chance of parole.
Maxwell played a key role in the Cedric Marks trial as she was the one who gave up the site in Oklahoma where Marks buried Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin.
Maxwell claimed she didn't speak up sooner because she was fearful of Marks and the things that he was capable of.
After Maxwell pleaded guilty on Aug. 1, Swearingin's mother, Deborah Harrison, thanked her for her testimony, but says the pain will stick with the families forever.
"This has been a nightmare we cannot wake up from," Harrison said. "There's no getting better for us. I hope you learned a lesson."
Harrison also spoke with the media after and says that she hopes Maxwell makes good choices moving forward.
"I don't know if she told absolutely the whole truth, but if she did, I just want to hug her," Harrison said. "It's just pitiful what all she's been through. The man took her money, she lost her job, changed her looks, and then he got her mixed up in all of this, plus the way he treated her while he was with her."
Marks was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Scott and Swearingin in May and was sentenced to death in June. He was turned over to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on June 16.