JOHNSON COUNTY (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The North Texas man convicted of shooting a Burleson police officer and killing a woman he carjacked in 2021 has been sentenced to death row.
A Johnson County jury found 31-year-old Jerry Elders guilty of capital murder for the death of 60-year-old Robin Waddell last week.
He shot Officer Joshua Lot three times during a traffic stop, fatally shot Wadell and left her body outside the Joshua Police Department.
Elders’ defense attorneys had pushed for life in prison without parole arguing his actions were the result of life-long drug addiction and numerous incarceration stints. However, the jury sided with the prosecution’s request for the death penalty.
After Elders learned his fate on Thursday, the judge told him about how the execution would be carried out.
“This sentence shall be executed at anytime after the hour 6 p.m. on the date that this court sets for the execution by intravenous injection,” she said.
Jurors heard emotional testimony from Wadell’s adult children during victim impact statements.
The defense is planning to appeal the death sentence.
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