BELL COUNTY, Texas — After two and a half hours of deliberation, a Bell County jury sentenced Cedric Marks to death on Friday, June 9 after he was found guilty of capital murder for killing his ex-girlfriend, Jenna Scott, and her friend, Michael Swearingin, back in 2019.
Both families gave their victim impact statements directly to Marks following the jury's decision.
"Jenna knew what your plan was all along," Jenna's brother, Talon Scott, told Marks.
He repeatedly said to Marks that no one was safe.
"If you couldn't have her, no one could," Talon said.
Deborah Harrison, Swearingin's mother, says she forgives Marks as a person but not his horrible acts.
"With God's help, I've come to the point that I can forgive him as a person," Harrison said. "I don't forgive the act of murder that he did and the pain that he inflicted on my baby, but I forgive him."
She gave her final words to Marks with a piece from her son that he posted on Facebook.
Love is not a noun. To love is to do, to feel, to become. Love is not passive, nor still. Love is always moving, changing, growing, and adapting to fit and make space in your heart for someone. Some think love is supposed to be simple, easy, or effortless and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Love is not a singular thought or feeling. It’s a continuous action, choice, and promise to another person. Love is the movement towards one another through the chaos that is life. Love is active, searching for ways to be closer, to understand, to meet halfway. Love is a verb.
I Corinthians 13:13: And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
This world so desperately needs more of it.
After the trial finished, prosecution and family members spoke to media.
"We know that the stories of Michael and Jenna were told and that the right decision was made and that we can move forward in a position that will keep our community safe," First Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Newell said.
"What we were waiting for was the thunder that was given today within a short period of time," Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza said.
The families expressed that justice was served and that their family bond is even stronger.
"Today, we have victory," Harrison told the media. "We believe that this had to happen to Michael and Jenna, so that justice could be served because he had already killed so many other people."
After nearly two months of trial, the families say they've gone through all the emotions.
“It’s been a really long, hard, stressful, traumatizing journey,” Talon said. "From January 2019 all the way till now, the family has experienced so many different emotions, going through the whole grieving process, whether it be anger, sadness, denial. There’s been a lot of small senses of closure throughout this whole endeavor, but now today, we get a really good sense of closure.”
They thank the power of prayer, prosecutors, law enforcement and all the support from the community along the way as this has been a complicated investigation covering multiple towns, cities and states.
"It doesn't change what happened but knowing that justice was served, knowing that Cedric won't be able to do this to anyone else," Talon said.
The victims' families have created a nonprofit in honor of Scott and Swearingin's memory. Priceless Beginnings strives to make a difference in the lives impacted by domestic violence. For more information and how to donate, click here.
"Michael and Jenna are beautiful people, but they're in heaven now," Harrison said. "They're smiling down on us, and they're really happy today."