Jury to deliver Shockley sentence today

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- After finding a Van Buren, Mo., man guilty of gunning down a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper, a Carter County jury will decide today whether the man should be put to death for the crime.

The jury of seven men and five woman deliberated three hours Friday before convicting Lance D. Shockley, 32, of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. on March 20, 2005.

A 12-year veteran of the highway patrol, Graham was found shot to death in the driveway of his Van Buren residence. He was still in uniform, having just gotten off work.

Shockley, dressed in a blue dress shirt and brown slacks, sat solemnly at the defense table as the jury foreman delivered the verdict.

Closing his eyes was the only emotion Shockley showed when the verdict was read.

His family, including his mother and grandparents who sat holding hands in the front row, began crying, as did other family members.

Across the aisle, members of Graham's family, many of whom also were crying, clapped and cheered briefly.

The jury had reached its verdict after hearing from 36 witnesses during the four-day trial and hearing closing arguments Friday morning from assistant attorney general Kevin Zoellner and Shockley's attorney, Bradford Kessler.

Following the verdict, the jury returned to the courtroom for additional testimony in the penalty phase of the trial.

Today the jury will deliberate again and decide if Shockley should receive the death sentence or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The jurors will make their decision based on testimony heard from 15 co-workers, friends and family members of Graham and three of Shockley's family members.

Patrol Sgt. Craig Ponder, who described Graham as one of his best friends, said he was "probably one of the best police officers I ever knew."

Graham was zone supervisor for Carter and Reynolds counties at the time of his death.

Ponder said he, Graham, and their sons, who are about the same age, often went camping and fishing together.

Getting the call to go to Graham's house and seeing him lying in a pool of blood was "one of the hardest things I've ever done," Ponder said.

Graham's then-4-year-old son, Hayden, was "Dewayne's life," Ponder said. Every minute of his off time was spent with Hayden, he said.

Retired patrol Col. Roger Stottlemyre described Graham as a "rising star on the highway patrol."

Four officers were killed in the line of duty in 2005 under Stottlemyre.

"All deaths are hard on the highway patrol family, but having an officer killed in the driveway of his home, shot in the back then in the head as he's laying there dying ... it's just devastating," Stottlemyre said.

Carl Dewayne Graham Sr., father of the victim, said he was proud of his son's lifelong commitment to law enforcement.

"That's putting it lightly. ... He loved his job," Graham Sr. said.

Beverly Graham said she misses her stepson every day.

"We have holes in our heart," she said during her tearful testimony.

Beverly Graham said Graham's family will never get over his death. "We may get used to it ... [but] how do you get over something like losing someone you love?"

Cathy Crowley-Runge, Graham Jr.'s fiancee, said Graham was the "very best father" she'd ever seen.

"Hayden was his life," she said.

Tammy Ogden said Graham Jr. not only took Hayden hunting and fishing, but would drive from Van Buren to West Plains to watch him play T-ball.

On the day of the murder, Ogden said, Hayden was excited because he had wrapped a gift for his dad.

When she told Hayden about his father's death, "the first thing he said was 'I don't get to give my daddy his present,'" Ogden said.

Ogden said her son experienced nightmares in which he would kick and scream.

After his fifth birthday party, Ogden said, her son drew of picture of his dad's house. When she asked about it, "he said it was a picture of Daddy here with Lance Shockley down here killing him."

Hayden testified before the jury, saying if he could do anything for one day, it would be "to hang out with dad."

Zoellner told the jury Shockley pleaded guilty on March 23, 2004, in Carter County to third-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and peace disturbance. The victims were a Carter County deputy and a National Park Service park ranger.

Chip Brewster, then a Carter County deputy, said officers had used pepper spray on Shockley and he'd taken Shockley to jail to clean up.

After Shockley calmed down, Brewster said, he told him he was sorry about what happened.

"He said 'I like you as a person, but not your uniform,'" Brewster said.

The jury also learned of two incidents, which happened at the Howell County Jail, including one in which Shockley was accused of assaulting another inmate.

Testifying for the defense, Laura Smith, Shockley's former girlfriend, said it would be in the best interest of their daughters to have their dad alive, even if he is behind bars.

If Shockley is sentenced to death, her daughters would go through the same ordeal as the Graham family, Smith said.

"Not for Lance's sake, he got a guilty verdict, but for those girls," she said.

Rachel Shockley described her cousin as a "great guy" who looked out for her like a brother.

"I've always admired him," she said.

Lance Shockley, she said, checked on their grandparents every day and helped out with chores such as splitting wood.

Having him alive "would mean everything in the world," Rachel Shockley said.

"I don't believe in the death penalty; being able to talk to him would just mean everything."

Gerald Sanders, grandfather of Lance Shockley, had lived with him off and on for 28 years.

"I believe he's one of the best children ... was ever put on this earth," said Sanders, who followed Shockley's progress through school and athletics, both of which he excelled in.

"I love him as much now as the day this happened," Sanders said.

Sanders said if his grandson were sentenced to prison, he would visit as often as he could.

"I love him as much as my own children, maybe even more. I'm going to miss him," he said.