EARLIER REPORT (Jan. 31)
The jury is expected to begin deliberations this afternoon in a Christmas Day 2016 murder trial in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
The trial of Zachary Wilson, 26, on three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault as well as single charges of improperly discharging a firearm and tampering with evidence was delayed Wednesday by the unavailability of a defense witness.
Earlier in the day, the woman riding with Wilson and the alleged victim, Jeremy Foxx, 24, of Carlisle, testified that Foxx, her cousin, pulled a gun on Wilson before the shooting started on Dec. 25, 2016 on a road along the Carlisle-Franklin Twp. line.
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Allison Moore, 20, of Franklin Twp., said Foxx pulled a 9 mm handgun and pointed it at Wilson with a look of “contempt” and intent to shoot.
Wilson, 26, is on trial, accused of firing at least nine rounds from an AK-47 pistol, into Foxx and a home along the road, culminating a five-day methamphetamine binge.
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In July, Moore was sentenced to three years in prison for tampering with evidence in the case.
On Wednesday, Assistant County Prosecutor Travis Vieux pressed Moore about why she didn’t tell detectives this version of what happened when she was interviewed after she and Wilson surrendered to authorities.
“At the time I was very confused,” she responded.
Moore admitted she and Wilson were “romantically involved in the past” and that she wrote to him from prison.
Moore confirmed she, Foxx and Wilson had been under the influence of meth for about five days and were trying to get more at the time of the fatal shooting.
“They were both being paranoid,” she said.
During jury selection, one of Wilson’s lawyers suggested the shooting was the result of Wilson panicking in a stressful situation and acted in self defense.
Wilson, a Franklin High graduate living outside Lebanon at the time of the shooting, shot Foxx as they drove with Moore, shattering the back of Foxx’s skull and sending a bullet into one of the homes they were driving by, Vieux said in his opening statement.
The truck crossed through a ditch as Wilson circled back in a futile attempt to find the the pistol before fleeing - first to Caesar Creek Lake Park and then Kentucky where he was hiding with his “Papaw,” Vieux added.
Police turned to the public for assistance and Moore and Wilson turned themselves in.
Judge Robert Peeler told the jury they should be prepared to begin deliberations, although, if unable to reach a verdict, they could continue on Thursday.
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