Appeals Judge Denies Kevin Sweat's Request To Withdraw Guilty Plea In 3 Deaths

An Oklahoma appeals court has rejected a man's request to withdraw his guilty pleas to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two girls and his fiance in eastern Oklahoma.

The Court of Criminal Appeals handed down the decision Monday to 29-year-old Kevin Sweat. Sweat was sentenced to life in prison last year after pleading guilty in the shooting deaths of 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker in 2008 and the slaying of his fiance, 23-year-old Ashley Taylor, in 2011.

10/31/2014 Related Story: Judge Denies Kevin Sweat's Appeal To Withdraw Guilty Plea In Weleetka Murders

The girls were killed as they walked down a rural road near Weleetka. He was charged with their deaths after he was questioned about Taylor's death three years later.

Okfuskee County prosecutors agreed to drop plans to seek the death penalty in exchange for Sweat's guilty plea.