Law enforcement, first responders testify in trial of man accused of killing East Texas pastor in 2021
Published 5:35 am Wednesday, September 18, 2024
- Starrville Methodist Church is pictured Jan. 4, 2021, a day after Pastor Mark McWilliams was shot to death. A jury convicted Mytrez Woolen, 25, of capital murder. (Tyler Morning Telegraph File)
TYLER, Texas — Jurors heard from multiple first responders Tuesday as the trial for a man accused of killing an East Texas pastor in 2021 entered its second day.
Mytrez Woolen, 25, is charged with capital murder in connection with the death of Pastor Mark McWilliams on Jan. 3, 2021, at Starrville Methodist Church in Winona. He is also accused of injuring church elder William “Mike” Sellars. The state is not seeking the death penalty for Woolen because he has a “verified mental illness.”
According to an arrest affidavit, McWilliams and his wife Rosemary found Woolen hiding in the church bathroom in the morning of Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. McWilliams told Woolen, who was holding the church’s money bag, to leave the church.
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