By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
JAY, Okla. — A rural Delaware County man could be facing 30 years or more in prison after a jury convicted him of shooting at two neighbor boys, and wounding one of them and a sheriff’s deputy, more than a year ago.
The jury found William M. Demoss, 52, guilty Tuesday on two counts of shooting with intent to kill and a single count of assault with a dangerous weapon. The two-day trial was conducted in Delaware County District Court.
Demoss fired three shots from a .22-caliber rifle at Curtis Clinton, then 17, and his 9-year-old half brother, Marcus Chrismon, on Dec. 19, 2008, as the boys walked past his home in a remote location about 15 miles from Jay. The first shot struck Clinton in the hand and the second in his hip as the older boy attempted to shield the younger one from the gunfire.
The third shot missed, and the boys fled to another neighbor’s house for help. A five-hour standoff with sheriff’s deputies ensued before deputies gained entry to Demoss’ trailer home and found only the shooter’s 77-year-old mother, Virginia Rose Logan, inside.
Authorities said she claimed that her son had left the home earlier in the day, before the shooting, but deputies soon found him inside a nearby outbuilding. Demoss shot Deputy Rick Pike in the hip through a sheet metal wall of the outbuilding as Pike attempted to arrest Demoss.
Kenny Wright, assistant district attorney, said jurors deliberated about an hour and a half before returning three guilty verdicts. They found Demoss guilty of shooting with intent to kill both Clinton and Pike, and of assault with a dangerous weapon with respect to the younger boy.
Jurors took just 15 minutes to return sentencing recommendations of 30 years on each of the more serious counts, and 10 years on the lesser offense, Wright said. He said a 1999 conviction of the defendant in Kansas for felony driving while intoxicated played into the sentencing phase of the trial.
Demoss will be formally sentenced by District Judge Alicia Littlefield on May 5.
Wright said the investigation of the case and trial testimony failed to show a cogent motive for the shootings. He said the Chrismon boy’s father is a distant relative of Demoss, and there have been some family issues of a petty nature over the years. He said Demoss threatened an older brother of the two boys before the shooting, but that does not explain why he shot at the younger brothers. He said the defendant’s use of alcohol may have been as prime a reason as any for the shootings.
Mother’s case
Charges remain pending against the mother of a man convicted of shooting and wounding a teen and a deputy in Delaware County more than a year ago. Virginia Rose Logan, of Parsons, Kan., is charged with harboring her son and obstructing officers in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
