Jury finds Tracy guilty of murder
Punishment phase of trial to begin Wednesday
NEW BOSTON, Texas— It took about one hour for a Bowie County jury to find inmate Billy Joel Tracy guilty of capital murder in the July 2015 beating death of a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston.
“This was the brutal murder of a public servant. He beat a man in the head until he was dead and then he threw his body down the stairs,” argued Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp. “He sprayed him with pepper spray and told the Office of Inspector General it was his final f*** you.”
Defense lawyer Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana argued in his closing that Tracy meant to assault and injure Davison but didn’t mean to end his life. Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards reminded the jury of the many witnesses who testified that Tracy has expressed a desire to kill one of his keepers since being imprisoned in 1998.
“The real backstory is that he’s been planning this for years,” Richards argued. “Him telling you that he did not mean to kill that man is an insult to your intelligence.”
Richards held the metal tray slot bar—a 16-inch pipe with a fork ended used to open the slot in cell doors— as she spoke. The tool made a loud thud as Richards struck the wooden bar in front of the jury box where 12 jurors and two alternates sat.
“What do you think it sounded like when he was slamming this into Officer Davison as he lay there motionless?” Richards said.
The jury watched surveillance video of Tracy’s attack on Davison twice during the trial. Tracy waits for Davison to open the door to cell 66 and turn his gaze before landing a solid blow to Davison’s head, knocking him to the floor. Tracy, who has managed to slip a hand free of its cuff, overpowers Davison during a brief struggle and grabs Davison’s slot bar. After Davison is clearly unconscious, Tracy delivers no fewer than five additional strikes to his face and head with the bar, swinging it like a hammer.
On the witness stand Thursday, Tracy claimed he wanted to assault Davison because he had given $500 to Davison for a cellphone that was never delivered. Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Office of Inspector General Investigator Jeff Butler testified that he received information that Tracy was angry because the state had taken funds from his inmate trust account as payment toward a $10,000 fine and court costs Tracy was assessed by a Rockwall County jury that sentenced him to two life terms plus 20 years in 1998.
Crisp asked the jury to recall what Tracy did when Harrelson asked the inmate how he felt about killing Davison.
“He started stacking his papers and said, ‘Yeah, I feel real bad,’” Crisp said.
During his testimony Thursday, Tracy said he will never again put himself in a situation where he might kill an officer in the course of an assault because he “can’t trust myself.”
Crisp pointed out that with the sentences Tracy is already serving, including 10-year and 45-year terms for prior assaults on correctional officers, Tracy will spend the rest of his life in prison where assaults on officers will remain an ever-present possibility.
“Everything is TDC’s fault. You heard him yesterday. He literally yelled out at a senior warden while on the witness stand,” Crisp argued.
During Tracy’s testimony Thursday, he locked eyes with the current warden of Telford and said, “I see the warden out there giving me that look. Yeah, I see you.”
The jury’s verdict was read aloud around 11 a.m. Friday by 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart before a courtroom packed with members of Davison’s family, friends, co-workers and TDCJ officers and administrators.
The punishment phase of Tracy’s trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday. The state is seeking the death penalty. The only other option is life without the possibility of parole.