The jury in the Dameon Mosley capital murder trial is set to hear closing arguments and instructions to begin deliberations Wednesday morning.
The state and defense both rested Tuesday after roughly three days of testimony. Mosley, 28, who faces a capital murder charge and could be sentenced to death if convicted in the shooting death of Billy Stacks, 62, of Tyler, pleaded not guilty last Thursday.
Stacks was a clerk at the Conoco gas station at 3319 NNE Loop 323 when the store was robbed in early hours of Jan. 28, 2017. Officials said Stacks was shot several times in his head and shoulder. Mosley has been in Smith County Jail since Jan. 29, 2017.
Two other suspects, Lamarcus Hannah, 35, and Kedarias Oliver, 26, also face a capital murder charge in the case and have not had their trials yet.
On Tuesday, the defense asked 114th District Court Judge Christi Kennedy for the lesser charge of felony murder to be included as an option for the jury’s deliberations. The attorney cited a previous case in which there was a struggle for the gun and the defendant did not intend to kill the victim.
The defense said the case is similar because the struggle between Mosley and Stacks took two seconds, as seen in the surveillance footage.
Kennedy said she will consider adding the lesser charge of felony murder, and the state and defense will be notified of her decision.
For felony murder to be included, Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman said there should be evidence showing Mosley only wanted to cause serious bodily harm.
In opening statements Thursday, Putman told the jury Mosley was the robber, Hannah was the driver and Oliver was the lookout. Mosley went into the gas station, got in Stacks’ face with a gun and shot him twice after a confrontation. He then fled with the store’s cash.
The trio took off in the vehicle and were later pursued by Smith County Deputy Cody Deaver to Interstate 20 near U.S. Highway 271, where Mosley ran out of the vehicle and into nearby woods. He couldn’t be found by law enforcement. The car was found later that morning at a church with Mosley’s driver’s license, clothing and other items, Putman said.
On Tuesday, a Tyler resident, who gave Hannah a ride in the early morning hours of Jan. 28, testified that Hannah said he was somewhere off of I-20 and needed a ride because he was having trouble with his cousin.
She testified that Hannah gave her an address after knocking on the door of a nearby home. She said he did not say one word the whole way to his home.
A Smith County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant, who was a detective in the major crimes unit at the time, testified she was asked to look into a lead about the person who drove Hannah home.
The lieutenant testified that she spoke with the driver and she showed her where she drove to pick up Hannah. The driver also showed the lieutenant her phone, which noted a call from Hannah at about 4 a.m.
Hannah was picked up near the Cross Brand Cowboy Church, where the car used the robbery/shooting was found in daylight, the lieutenant testified.
A maintenance director at the church said he found the car, and clothes nearby in a ditch. A detective with Smith County Sheriff’s Office testified that he and others walked U.S. 271 searching for potential evidence.
Two forensic scientists with Texas Department of Public Safety in Garland testified that several potential samples were taken from the clothing and other items in the ditch, car and a dumpster to test for DNA.
One of the scientists testified that some of items showed a strong probability that Mosley’s DNA was on them. Oliver and Hannah’s DNA was also likely on some of the items as well, they said.