Defense presents case for man facing death in killing of North TX woman, shooting of cop

The prosecution rested and defense attorneys called Joshua police Detective Lee Sosebee first thing Monday morning as the capital murder trial for Jerry Elders moved into its second week in Johnson County’s 413th District Court.

Sosebee, originally on the prosecution’s list of witnesses, was never called to testify by the state after she admitted in the second day of the trial that she watched a livestream of the proceedings on the first day, including opening statements and testimony from witnesses.

Visiting Judge Lee Gabriel said Sosebee could face a fine or jail time for contempt of court because she was instructed not to sit in the courtroom, watch any footage of the trial or read anything about it.

Elders is charged with capital murder after authorities said he shot Burleson police Officer Joshua Lott three times during a traffic stop in 2021, fled and then kidnapped a woman at her home, stole her truck, killed her and pushed her out of her truck outside the Joshua Police Department. If found guilty of capital murder, he faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Sosebee, a patrol officer at the time of the killing, was called back to the station after 60-year-old Robin Waddell was found with multiple gunshot wounds on the station’s back doorstep. She was asked by the defense about a purse and a black Nike shoe that were found in that back parking lot.

During cross-examination, the prosecution showed the jury images of the shoe and purse. The shoe was visibly dirty and, according to Sosebee, wet.

Kim Burris, a crime scene investigator with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, was questioned by the defense about metadata of an image she took of a DVR connected to a home surveillance system at Waddell’s house.

The defense questioned her about the time the photo was taken, around 1:30 p.m. on April 14, 2021, which she said was correct. They also asked if any video recordings had been recovered from the DVR, to which Burris answered no. During cross examination by the prosecution, Burris said she didn’t know if there was any video to be collected.

Burris was also asked about the purse collected from the Joshua police station, which had a large amount of money in it along with credit cards. Burris said the purse was photographed, documented and then on April 16, 2021, released back to Waddell’s family. During the state’s case, defense attorneys asked about the decision to release the purse. The purse was evidence, the defense said, and should not have been released without permission from the defendant’s attorneys.

Today's top stories:

→ H-E-B announces third Tarrant County location

→ Teen killed, 2 injured in shooting at Fort Worth after-prom party

→ Nuns claim ‘hostile’ takeover, reject Vatican decree, bishop’s authority

🚨Get free alerts when news breaks.

Lori Waddell, the daughter-in-law of Robin Waddell, testified when she was called by the defense that she saw a woman on the property she and her husband shared with Robin Waddell. The woman was wearing wet, dirty clothes and was later linked to the case as having been in a vehicle with Elders when Lott was shot.

Lori Waddell told the jury she yelled at the woman to get off the property. When the woman responded that she was trying to get back to a specific road, Lori Waddell gave her directions. She said the woman left the driveway.

According to previous testimony, Elders and a man and woman who were with him when the police officer was shot split up and left their car, which was found burning. Last week, prosecutors played portions of a video-recorded interview in which Elders confessed that he shot the officer and that after he abandoned his vehicle he carjacked Robin Waddell at her home and killed her after she grabbed the wheel and crashed the pickup truck through the police station gate.

In his video statement, Elders said his friends were not involved in the crimes.

The same gun was used to shoot Lott and Waddell, a ballistics expert testified last week. The revolver was found in Waddell’s pickup truck after Elders fled to Gainesville in the truck and was arrested there, witnesses told the jury.

Robin Waddell cared for her father, who was 88, in her home at the time, Lori Waddell testified Monday.

She told the jury that she didn’t know if the surveillance system in Robin Waddell’s home was working, saying that it had to be reactivated every six months and she wasn’t sure if that had been done. Lori Waddell didn’t know anything about the shooting of Lott or that her mother-in-law was abducted and killed until after her husband called and told her, she testified.

A neighbor, Aaron Neal, who lived near Robin Waddell’s home, told jurors that around 10 a.m. that day he was driving near the Waddell property, going to check on his mother because he’d received a notification that a suspect wanted for shooting a police officer was in the area. Neal said he saw a woman wearing dirty clothes and walking barefoot. He stopped and asked her if she needed anything and ended up giving her a ride.

He stopped at the Waddell property because he saw police there, and let the woman out of the truck.

“I figured she needed to talk to law enforcement,” he told the jury.

The woman walked toward the property and Neal drove off, he testified.

After a two-hour lunch break during which the court subpoenaed final witnesses for the defense, jurors heard from Lt. Wes Routson with Burleson Police Department.

Routson told the jury that, in his opinion, Lott is not a truthful person. The prosecution asked when that opinion was formed, in an attempt to prevent the defense from casting doubt on Lott’s testimony about the 2021 shooting. Routson said he formed that opinion in 2022.

In his testimony, the lieutenant did not elaborate on why he believes Lott is untruthful. Outside the presence of the jury, Routson said his opinion was related to an internal affairs investigation of Lott, but he was not permitted by the judge to mention that investigation or mention internal affairs at all in the presence of the jury.

After his testimony, the defense rested its case and the prosecution called a rebuttal witness who told the jury the camera surveillance system in Robin Waddell’s home was unplugged and did not have any recording from that day when he arrived.

In photos from later that same day, the DVR that would record video from that camera system was powered on. The defense asked who “tampered with the crime scene” by plugging in the DVR before it was photographed. The witness, Officer Charles Layland with the Joshua ISD police who was at the time a sheriff’s office investigator, told the jury he can’t recall if he powered up the DVR or if someone else did it. He was certain, though, that it was not powered up before he arrived and did not have any records stored from that day.

The jurors were dismissed for two days around 2 p.m. Monday, with advice that when they return Thursday for closing arguments and deliberations they should bring an overnight bag. Jurors might be sequestered overnight if deliberations are not finished Thursday, Gabriel warned.

If Elders is found guilty, a second phase of the trial would begin to determine his punishment.

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.