Joplin man pleads guilty to murdering girlfriend

A Joplin man pleaded guilty today in Jasper County Circuit Court to committing the savage beating that killed his girlfriend.

Under a plea bargain agreement with the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office that reduced the charge from first degree murder to second degree murder, Casey L. Malone, 40, admitted he killed Ann McCrary, 63, on January 18, 2021. The agreement calls for a 25-year sentence for Malone, but does not have to be accepted by Judge Gayle Crane.

Sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, April 10.

In the plea agreement, Malone wrote, "I assaulted another person who ultimately died."

That assault, according to the probable cause statement, left McCrary with a broken arm and a brain bleed caused by repeated blows to the head. She died 12 days after the beating.