TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A Smith County jury has sentenced a man convicted in the 2017 shooting death of a gas station clerk to death.
Earlier on Wednesday, the jury heard the closing arguments from the prosecuting and defense attorneys. Since the charge is a capital offense, the jurors only have two options for Dameon Jamarc Mosley’s sentence - life in prison without parole or death.
A Smith County jury convicted Mosley of capital murder last week. He was charged in the fatal shooting of Billy Dale Stacks during an armed robbery. At the time of his death on Jan. 28, 2017, Stacks was working as a clerk at a Conoco gas station in Tyler.
The trial is being held in Judge Christi Kennedy’s 114th Judicial District Court.
The case will automatically be appealed, and attorney Jeff Hass will represent Mosley during the appeals process.
When Kennedy read the charges and gave her instructions to the jury, she explained that Special Issue No. 3 on the juror ballot is intellectual disability and that they have to decide if there is enough evidence to meet those criteria.
She added that the jury has to agree unanimously on Special issue No. 3.
During his closing arguments, Chris Gatewood, a prosecutor for the Smith County District Attorney’s Office thanked the jurors for their service.
“The state doesn’t want you to take this lightly,” Gatewood said. “If I had it my way, Mr. Stacks would be at work today, and Mosley would still be on probation.”
Gatewood told the jurors that there is a strong probability that Mosley would commit another crime.
The prosecutor told the jury that the burden of proof is on the defense to show that Mosley has an intellectual disability, which would warrant a life sentence instead of execution.
“We have proven that he is a threat to society,” Gatewood said. “He shot Billy Stacks in the head, took money out of the register, and picked the money up off of his dying body. Mosley has terrorized a lot of victims."
Gatewood told the jurors that Mosley robbed again and again and reminded them that several witnesses testified about being scared for their lives during the previous crimes Mosley has committed.
“He started with a BB gun terrorizing people,” Gatewood said. “Then he graduated up to a real gun because someone bucked against him.”
During his closing arguments, Gatewood said Mosley committed five different robberies in 2014. He added Mosley appeared remorseful at that time, and the District Attorney’s Office gave him probation.
“We gave him a second chance, but that was a mistake,” Gatewood said. “While he was on probation, he committed 13 other robberies and killed Billy Stacks. He has an antisocial disorder. he doesn’t care about others.”
Gatewood argued that Mosley is not intellectually disabled, and he knows right from wrong.
One of Mosley’s defense attorneys reminded the jurors that they should focus on Mosley, not his victim. The attorney asked the jury, “How can Mosley continue to be a threat to society? G3 inmates aren’t allowed to roam around like they are on a college campus. They are controlled.”
The attorney stated that 70 percent of the inmates in the TDCJ prison system antisocial personality disorders.
“Life without parole is the highest punishment we have without death,” the defense attorney said. “Is this individual that dangerous. Is this someone we have to kill?”
Robbie McClung, Mosley’s lead attorney, told the jurors that the State of Texas did not prove that Mosley is a threat to society. She said that the prosecutor named Mosely’s victims and that she would have felt the same way if she had been in their shoes.
“There is research that shows by the age of 40, they age out of antisocial disorder,” McClung said. “Prison teaches them things to understand what they did. The society he is going to live in until he dies is going to better him.”
Later, McClung gave a recap of testimony from Mosley’s mother, who admitted that she abused her son. She argued that Mosley never really had the structure or guidance he needed when he was growing up.
“Look at the other evidence and take it into consideration,” McClung said. " Take everything into consideration. You are all parents. A parent’s goal is to make sure their kids understand right and wrong."
McClung told the jurors that they should give justice to both the victim and the defendant. She added that there is enough evidence to warrant a sentence of life without parole.
In his closing arguments, Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman countered that Mosley has had jobs and three different girlfriends. He added that Mosley graduated from high school with a curriculum that was suitable for his level.
“He knows right from wrong,” Putnam said.
Putnam told the jury that prison is basically a time out.
“I would love six hours of rec time a day,” Putnam said. “They get to go to the dayroom and play dominoes. They have a system of taking away your privileges to control you. I do the same thing. no sweets. Time out.”
Putman argued that when Mosley was on probation, he knew he could get life in prison if he committed another robbery, but he committed numerous robberies anyway. He added that Mosley committed nearly 20 robberies.
“He is antisocial,” Putnam said as he played the surveillance video of the robbery. “If he wants it, he’s going to take it even if it means murder.”
Putnam told the jurors that it took a full minute for Mosley to get the money after he shot Stacks. He added that while Mosley was in the Smith County jail, he got a money tattoo on his neck.
“The night of the murder, he had been given a check for $329 from Sanderson Farms,” Putnam said. “Instead of going to Walmart to cash the check, he goes and robs. he is a murderer. He is dangerous.”
Putnam told the jurors that they will set the standard in Smith County. he added that people will be watching the news to see how they handle murderers.
“Billy Slacks will never know his future grandchildren or grow old with his wife,” Putnam said.
Mosley was indicted in April 2017 on charges of capital murder by terror threat and aggravated robbery. Mosley pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Two other suspects - LaMarcus Hannah and Kedaris Oliver - were also indicted in 2017 on one count of capital murder each.
Source: kltv.com, Arthur Clayborn and Gary Bass, November 20, 2019
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