PANAMA CITY — A disabled man who shot his wife and killed her lover was sentenced Thursday to 45 years in prison — a term that would amount to a life sentence, according to his defense attorney.
Michael Joe McCoy, 44, had been convicted in November of manslaughter and aggravated battery for a fatal shooting, which he claimed was in self-defense due to his deteriorating physical health. David Walker suffered four gunshot wounds in a confrontation — the kill shot piercing his heart — while Susan McCoy nearly perished from being shot twice in the gut outside the couple’s home.
Circuit Judge James Fensom sentenced Michael McCoy to 45 years in prison Thursday after the killer declined to speak on his behalf during the sentencing.
Walker’s immediate family encouraged Fensom to exercise a just sentence for their loss.
“We will never recover from this gratuitous violence, and I will never forget what this killer said when he called 911 that evening,” said Sandy Walker, mother. “He said he didn’t give a [expletive] if my son was dead.”
Sandy Walker endured most of the trial, sitting through graphic pictures from the crime scene. During the five-day trial, she saw some of the last pictures to be taken of 46-year-old David Walker.
“My son was still beautiful in his autopsy photos,” she said.
Michael McCoy called deputies early Feb. 5 to his home on Rhonda Road to report he had shot his 37-year-old wife and David Walker after he learned the two had been having an affair.
He told investigators after the incident that he initially armed himself with the intention of taking his own life, but his wife talked him out of it. He said he had just learned she and Walker were having an affair and demanded that Walker — who had been staying with the couple for a few days after his release from the Bay County Jail following a domestic battery arrest — leave their home.
The two men began to argue outside the house before gunfire echoed through the sparsely populated Fountain neighborhood.
Four shots later, Walker lay face down in a ditch with two bullet holes in his chest, one in his calf and one in his back ribs. The final shot entered his back, perforated his heart and exited his chest. Susan McCoy collapsed from two gunshots through the stomach and drifted out of consciousness.
None of the rounds fired were recovered by investigators.
Michael McCoy was charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder because the story Susan McCoy told investigators did not corroborate his account. During the trial, appearing in a wheelchair, McCoy argued the shooting occurred out of self-defense. He said because of a debilitating injury he feared for his life and his wife was caught in the crossfire. But Susan McCoy said he lured David Walker back onto their property and then attempted to seize the opportunity to kill both of the lovers.
Jurors convicted him of lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated battery.
Michael McCoy was sentenced Thursday to remain in prison until he is 99 years old, a sentence that would consume the remainder of his days, said public defender Kim Jewell.
“In light of his physical condition, any way we look at it, it is still a life sentence for him,” Jewell said.