TYLER, Texas — While on the witness stand Wednesday, Mytrez Woolen claimed he shot and killed Starrville Methodist Church Pastor Mark McWilliams to “protect” himself, adding he wasn’t being aggressive on the morning of Jan. 3, 2021.
Mytrez Woolen, 25, is charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting death of McWilliams on Jan. 3, 2021, at Starrville Methodist Church in Winona. He is also accused of injuring church elder William "Mike" Sellars. The state is not seeking the death penalty for Woolen because he has a "verified mental illness."
Woolen told the jury he shot McWilliams because "he wouldn't put the gun down when I asked him to."
"I thought my life was in danger. I thought he was going to shoot me. I wasn't the aggressor," he said.
Documents say McWilliams and his wife Rosemary found Woolen hiding in the church bathroom in the morning of Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. McWilliams told Woolen, who was holding the church's money bag, to leave the church while holding Woolen at gunpoint. The two then struggled over the gun and Woolen shot him several times in the chest, killing the pastor.
Woolen's attorney Jeff Haas said in his opening statements Woolen has schizophrenia and he is bipolar, and at the time of the car chase on Jan. 2, 2021 that Woolen led police on and the shooting on Jan. 3, he was not on his medication that he was supposed to be on.
"Unfortunately what happened never should've happened but it did," Haas said.
Haas said Woolen broke into the church because it was wet and cold outside, and he didn't want to rob anyone. The defense argued he is not guilty of capital murder because in his mind what he did was right.
Woolen said on the stand when he was "stranded, cold" after he realized the car involved in the chase was gone. He decided to break a window to get inside the church.
He took off his wet clothes that he had on and he started taking out money he had in his pocket to count it and then went to sleep. He said the money that was found in the church bank bag was his, not the church's.
Woolen testified he didn't see law enforcement flash their lights into the church building on Jan. 2. I the morning, he heard a vehicle door close in the parking lot, and he put clothes back on and gathered his money into the church's bank bag. He hid in the backroom bathroom.
Woolen claimed when he saw Pastor McWilliams, he put his hands up and said, "I'm sorry I had an emergency last night." He claimed Sellars grabbed him from behind, McWilliams pulled out his gun and the pastor's wife Rosemary had a hammer raised.
"I wasn't trying to fight. I wasn't trying to argue with him," Woolen said.
Woolen testified that he begged McWilliams to not shoot him. Woolen said he got down on the ground as McWilliams ordered him to do. The pastor told Sellars to call the police.
Woolen said he was cooperating the best he could, but McWilliams would not put his gun down.
"I was trying to protect myself. That was my only intention at the time," Woolen said.
Woolen claimed the gun went off while he and McWilliams were fighting over the gun. Woolen said he got control of the gun and he shot McWilliams by accident the first time. He said after that, the pastor was trying to choke him so Woolen shot him again in the head.
Woolen said after the pastor was shot, he saw Sellars come into the church door with his gun out. He claimed he wasn't thinking when he shot Sellars.
Woolen testified he told church member Vic Little, "let me see your keys" to your truck and Woolen believed under the circumstances that Little gave him the truck willingly.
Regarding the police chase on Jan. 2, Woolen testified that he bought the vehicle, but he didn't know when. He says he bought it from Caleb in Dallas. He said he did not know that the car was stolen when he bought it.
Woolen told the state he stole the shotgun he had during the chase from his uncle in Marshall. He claimed older people were targeting him. He testified he did not break into an apartment, steal the keys and the vehicle involved in the Jan. 2, 2021, police pursuit.
Woolen said he had a shotgun hanging out the car window in Lindale because he was "having problems with older men wanting to claim rank over (him)." He said these men were from Arlington, not Lindale.
He said the car has nothing to do with the murder case, adding that he never murdered anyone on purpose.
Woolen said the cartels in Dallas and Lindale targeted him because he doesn't want to be in their gang. Police couldn't help because it's a "rank thing" that they wouldn't understand.
He agreed that engaging in a high-speed chase with police is dangerous. He claimed the law enforcement pursuing came in front of him all at one time.
"I thought they (police) were going to kill me," Woolen said.
He claimed he was trying to stop the whole time, but it was too late because there was a “whole bunch of police.” Woolen testified he "didn't know that he did anything wrong." He said the cartels are angry with him because girls online find him attractive.
After the chase, Woolen said he didn't turn himself in on Jan. 2 because he didn't have a phone.
Woolen said he put the money in the bag, but he wasn't intending to steal from the church. Woolen said he believes that because McWilliams saw the bag, he was given permission to take the bag. He also said he was given permission to leave the church from the pastor.
Woolen said he thought he could explain what happened the night before as a "family emergency" to McWilliams. He claimed he was cooperating before the gun was drawn.
Woolen testified McWilliams used "greater force than what was necessary." He said he was protecting himself from being murdered.
He claimed Rosemary McWilliams was swinging a hammer at him.
Woolen said that Pastor McWilliams overpowered him while they were struggling over the gun. Woolen said after he shot McWilliams in the chest, McWilliams was still attempting to fight Woolen. He claimed four people were trying to kill him.
Woolen testified he was trying to get to the hospital as he was driving the stolen truck toward Marshall after the shooting.
In rebuttal to Woolen’s testimony, the state showed screenshots of a deputy’s body cam video that showed Woolen after his arrest. The deputy testified Woolen did not have wet or dried blood on his chest.
Smith County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit Sgt. Noel Martin said the bullet trajectory shows the bullet more than likely came toward McWilliams from a downward direction. It’s less likely the gun was fired how Woolen described.
Evidence shows the gunshot to McWilliams was five to eight inches away from him. Shooting a gun upward while on the floor would be unnatural, Martin said.
Also on Wednesday prior to Woolen’s testimony, the state’s final witnesses testified about DNA evidence and fingerprints that connected Woolen to the shooting.
Martin testified that testing shows fingerprints taken from the broken window at the Starrville Methodist Church are connected to Woolen.
Martin identified McWilliams' cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head and chest upon coming to the scene after the shooting. In his opinion, the shot that killed McWilliams was an "extremely close range shot."
The trial will resume Thursday morning with closing statements from the state and defense. Afterward, the jury is expected to begin its deliberations.