Plea rejected in Christmas Day murder case in Warren County

A 26-year-old Warren County man facing a murder charge in connection with a Christmas Day shooting met this afternoon with one of his lawyers to discuss a plea offered by prosecutors.

Zackary Lee Wilson is accused of murdering Jeremy T. Foxx, 24, of Carlisle, with an automatic pistol as they drove on Dec. 25, 2016, allegedly to make a drug deal in Carlisle.

RELATED: Drugs linked to Christmas murder case

This afternoon, Judge Robert Peeler directed Wilson, a 2009 Franklin High School graduate living in Kings Mill, to meet with lawyer Jeff Stueve about an offer of an 18-year-to-life in prison sentence, if Wilson would plead guilty to a murder charge with a gun specification, as well as discharging a firearm into a habitation.

Wilson told Peeler he was unaware of the offer, read into the record as the lawyers prepared for a trial to begin on Sept. 18 in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

After meeting, Stueve indicated Wilson was unwilling to accept the offer, setting the stage for the trial.

Wilson is expected to claim his judgment was clouded by methamphetamine use when he shot Foxx as they drove along Montgomery Avenue in a truck that also had a woman inside.

RELATED: Arrest made in Christmas Day murder

Foxx’s body was found on Christmas night on a stretch of Montgomery Avenue in Franklin Twp., about an hour after residents living along the road in Carlisle reported hearing gunshots.

A co-defendant, Allison Moore, 20, of Franklin Twp., was sentenced in July to three years in prison for tampering with evidence. She is to testify in the trial.

Follow Lawrence Budd on Twitter

About the Author