Day 2: Trial in Tecumseh officer’s death continues
By Kim Morava
Shawnee News Star
An exchange of text messages was among the testimony and evidence presented Wednesday as the trial for a woman accused of second degree murder in the death of a Tecumseh police officer continues in Pottawatomie County.
A jury of six men and six women, along with two alternates, is hearing the trial of Brooklyn Danielle Williams, 24, before District Judge John G. Canavan Jr.
During Tuesday’s opening arguments, District 21 Prosecutor Pattye High read the charges to the jury, outlining that Williams is accused, on or about March 26, 2017, of engaging in the felony offense of harboring a fugitive and concealing Byron James Shepard, a person she knew to be a fugitive from justice.
While she was in the commission of that felony, charges allege Shepard, 37, who was the passenger in a vehicle being driven by Williams and stopped by Officer Terney, fired a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol into the abdomen of the officer, causing mortal wounds.
High told jurors that Officer Terney, at 22 years old, had been on the job as a Tecumseh police officer for just 192 days before he died.
So far, the trial has included numerous law enforcement witnesses and the jury watching videos, including the dash camera video from Terney’s patrol car.
The night of the traffic stop, Williams sat in the driver’s seat of the vehicle as her passenger, who had an outstanding felony warrant and was a fugitive with a gun, was outside of the vehicle giving Terney a false name, according to presented testimony.
After Terney was shot, Williams told police she didn’t know who Shepard was and that she had just moved to Tecumseh a day earlier.
Witnesses, including an Okfuskee County sheriff’s deputy, have already testified that Williams knew for weeks that Shepard was a fugitive being sought by authorities, and based on Wednesday’s text messages read in court, the two had an ongoing relationship and shared texts indicating a plan about establishing a residence together in Tecumseh.
Some of the exchanged messages, many of them with expletives, were about law enforcement, with one message from Williams to Shepard sent just hours before Terney was shot. In that message, she warned Shepard there was a highway patrol trooper on SH 9, according to testimony.
Prosecutors, during Wednesday’s testimony, referenced nearly 1,200 text messages as having some type of connection to this case.
After the shooting that night, in which Officer Terney returned fire, Shepard was wounded and has since recovered. Shepard faces a first-degree murder charge in the officer’s death and has pleaded not guilty in his case.
The prosecution will continue presenting its case in Williams’ trial on Thursday.
https://www.news-star.com/news/20190...eath-continues
Bookmarks