Prosecution: Drugs at root of Christmas Day slaying in Warren County

A four- to five-day methamphetamine binge ending on Christmas night 2016 culminated in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Jeremy T. Foxx, Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Travis Vieux said during opening arguments Friday in a murder trial in Warren County.

Vieux told the jury Zackary Lee Wilson fired at least nine shots from an AK-47 pistol pulled from beneath the front seat of a truck in which he and Foxx were riding, blowing off the back of his skull and sending bullets into one of the homes they were driving by on Dec. 25, 2016.

“The silence of that night was shattered by gunfire,” Vieux said, describing how Wilson then took the wheel and pushed Foxx’s body from the moving truck, sending it skidding onto the road along the Franklin Twp.-Carlisle border.

The prosecutor described how one bullet knocked from the wall and broke the glass covering a family photo in a home along the road.

The truck crossed through a ditch as Wilson circled back in a futile attempt to find the the pistol before fleeing - first to Caesar Creek Lake Park and then Kentucky where he was hiding with his “Papaw,” Vieux added.

The “blood-covered, fully loaded” automatic pistol was found by police at the scene, Vieux said.

After police turned to the public for assistance, a picture of Wilson in the flatbed of the truck sent through Facebook Messenger by Foxx was provided to investigators and the search for Wilson was on, Vieux said.

On Dec. 27, Wilson, a Franklin High grad living outside Lebanon, turned himself in and the truck was seized in Kentucky, Vieux added.

Wilson faces three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault as well as single charges of improperly discharging a firearm and tampering with evidence.

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The trial is scheduled to continue next week in Peeler’s court in Lebanon. Wilson’s lawyers plan to make their defense, starting from their opening statement, on Tuesday or Wednesday.

But during jury selection, lawyer Bill Fowler asked if jurors could consider the role of “panic in a scary, intense situation” in deciding whether to find Wilson guilty.

There were also statements from Vieux indicating Wilson was under the impression Foxx was “setting him up” and began firing after hearing a gunshot.

Vieux and Fowler both suggested Wilson will claim he thought he was acting in self defense.

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A co-defendant, Allison Moore, 20, of Franklin Twp., was sentenced in July to three years in prison for tampering with evidence. She is expected to testify.

Vieux said she was along on the drug binge, riding with Wilson and Foxx “looking for amphetamine” at the time of the shooting, helped Wilson try to wipe blood from truck cab and add paint to disguise the vehicle.

“First and foremost, voluntary intoxication is not a defense,’ Vieux said in his conclusion.

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