Trial begins for North Texas man accused of shooting officer, killing 60-year-old woman
The capital murder trial of a North Texas man accused of killing a woman and shooting a police officer began Monday in Johnson County, with the prosecution and defense making opening statements.
Jerry Don Elders, 40, faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty if the jury finds him guilty of capital murder. Authorities in 2021 accused Elders of shooting and killing 60-year-old Robin Waddell after wounding a Burleson police officer.
Joshua Lott, the officer, was shot three times and survived, authorities said at the time.
Lott pulled Elders over around 4:15 a.m. on April 14, 2021, for a defective light, police said. When Lott approached the vehicle, Elders shot him three times through a passenger window, authorities allege. Elders took off from the scene of the traffic stop, police said at the time.
The car was found abandoned in the 700 block of John Jones Drive after it caught fire, police said. Elders later robbed Waddell and stole her pickup truck at her house in the 8000 block of County Road 802, police said in 2021.
Early that morning, after Officer Lott was shot, police cars and helicopters swarmed the area near FM 731, on the edge of where Joshua and Burleson meet. Traffic was re-routed off 731 and onto the county road.
At 8:15 a.m., Waddell texted her son telling him she would be sitting on her porch drinking coffee that morning, a neighbor told the Star-Telegram at the time. Police said Waddell was found outside the Joshua Police Station with gunshot wounds about 30 minutes later.
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Authorities said Elders kidnapped Waddell when he stole her silver Toyota Tacoma and he shot her before he dumped her out of the truck outside the police station around 8:45 a.m. that day.
Waddell was memorialized on social media as a loving family woman.
If Elders is convicted, a second phase of the trial would begin for the jury to decide his punishment.
The trial could last two weeks or longer.
This story includes information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
