MMA fighter, girlfriend indicted on capital murder charges

BELTON, Texas (AP) – A 44-year-old MMA fighter and his girlfriend have been indicted in Texas on capital murder charges in the killings of two people whose bodies were found in a shallow grave in Oklahoma.

Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza says the indictments of Cedric Marks and 26-year-old Maya Maxwell were handed down Wednesday for the deaths Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin. The couple was also charged with tampering with evidence.

Marks has previously denied killing the 28-year-old Scott and 32-year-old Swearingin.

Investigators say Swearingin was strangled before he was buried in Oklahoma alongside the body of Scott. Marks is Scott’s ex-boyfriend.

Oklahoma’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released an autopsy report Wednesday saying Swearingin’s death was a homicide.

Swearingin was found dead Jan. 15 in a shallow grave beside the body of Scott in Clearview, about 80 miles east of Oklahoma City. The Temple, Texas, residents were reported missing Jan. 4.

Marks prompted a manhunt Feb. 3 when he escaped from a private prison van. He was recaptured nine hours later.