TYLER, Texas — Jurors on Thursday found a 25-year-old man guilty of capital murder for killing Starrville Methodist Church Pastor Mark McWilliams while hiding inside the church in January 2021.
Mytrez Woolen was convicted of capital murder in connection with the shooting death of McWilliams on Jan. 3, 2021, at Starrville Methodist Church in Winona. During the shooting, he also injured church elder William "Mike" Sellars.
Jurors spent over three hours deliberating before reaching their verdict. After the jury's verdict, 7th District Court Judge Kerry imposed a life in prison sentence without any possibility for parole. He does have the ability to appeal his conviction.
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 in the chest and head, killing the pastor.
Sellars was shot six times, including four from behind, by Woolen after Sellars called 911. Woolen then stole a truck from another church member, and he was eventually tracked down and arrested in Marshall that same day.
The state chose not to seek the death penalty for Woolen because he has a "verified mental illness."
Both the state and defense closed their cases on Wednesday after nearly three full days of testimony, including from Sellars, Rosemary McWilliams and Woolen (who claimed he feared for his life and acted in self-defense) himself. Police testimony also detailed how the night before the shooting, Woolen was involved in a high-speed police chase that began in Lindale with him holding a gun out of the window of a stolen car. The chase eventually led to a wooded area near Starrville Methodist Church.
Prior to closing statements and deliberations, Russell ruled against the defense's request to include the lesser charge of murder, but the jury was allowed to consider self-defense.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Zach Gilmore said Woolen used force to take McWilliams' firearm and killed the pastor, and he committed assault against Rosemary and Sellars while trying to keep a bank bag he had taken from the church.
Gilmore said that's not self-defense, as Woolen claimed in his testimony, that's a crime spree.
Gilmore explained to the jury that the state proved Woolen committed both burglary of a building and robbery. Woolen on the stand saying the money in the church bag was his is ridiculous. The jurors didn’t have to agree on which of the offenses he committed.
Regarding self-defense, Gilmore told the jury to look at the facts because McWilliams had every right to lawfully hold Woolen at gunpoint and Woolen had no right to be in the church building. Woolen provoked McWilliams by breaking into the church, not complying and taking the bank bag. Self-defense does not apply to Woolen, but it did apply to McWilliams.
Woolen didn't attack McWilliams until he realized that he couldn't talk himself out of the situation as Sellars called the police, Gilmore told the jurors.
All of what Woolen said in his testimony was self-serving and a majority of it was lies. He didn't seem to show remorse for what happened to McWilliams, Gilmore said.
Woolen's attorney Jason Cassel brought up how a cigarette wrapper was found in the bank bag, and no one considered that. Cassel said it's obvious the wrapper came from Woolen's pocket, saying the money was Woolen’s.
Cassel said Woolen is a simple guy who is not the most articulate, and he does have some mental health issues. From Woolen's perspective when Woolen was held at gunpoint and Rosemary had a hammer, he could've believed he was in danger.
"It's a terrible case. It's a sad case," Cassel said. "When there's a gap in the evidence, we can't fill them with assumptions."
Woolen didn't take the gun because he wanted to kill McWilliams. He took it because he was in fear of his life, Cassel told the jurors.
Woolen's other attorney Jeff Haas said there's no doubt that Woolen killed McWilliams, but the question is why did he do it.
Haas said that a cigarette wrapper would not have been in a church bank bag, trying to show the money in the bag was Woolen's.
Woolen knew that he was not supposed to be there, but he put his hands up when he saw McWilliams, Haas said, adding he doesn’t know what it’s like to be in a situation fearing for his life.
The shooting did not happen for Woolen to keep control of the money bag, Haas said. The lawyer asked the jury to come back and find Woolen not guilty of capital murder.
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Health Chamness said the next chapter after McWilliams' death is justice, including for Rosemary and Sellars.
The bank bag has been in dispute, but what is not in dispute is that Woolen broke into the church and fought over the gun and then killed McWilliams with the pastor's own gun, Chamness said.
Woolen said in his own words that he took the gun from McWilliams because the pastor "would not comply" with what Woolen wanted, Chamness said.
Chamness compared the defense's argument that Woolen used self-defense to robbing a bank and killing someone in the process and then saying that would be self-defense as well.
Woolen testified that he ran from police and he did not want to go to jail. Woolen knew what he had done was wrong, and his mental health diagnoses are not a defense for his actions, Chamness said.
Woolen hid in the bathroom because he knew he wasn't supposed to be in the church. All of the evidence shows that McWilliams was going to hold Woolen at the church until police arrived, Chamness said.
Chamness said Woolen went into a "fit of rage" as soon as McWilliams told Sellars to call the police and he committed murder out of fear of getting arrested.
The trajectory of the bullet showed the events didn't happen the way that Woolen claimed. Even if the first shot was made in self-defense, the second shot was not; therefore, self-defense is not an argument, Chamness said.
He asked the jury to find Woolen guilty of capital murder because that is the justice that McWilliams deserves.