BONIFAY — Jurors unanimously recommended Friday that 24-year-old Zachary Taylor Wood be put to death for the murder of James “Coon” Shores.
If Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson goes along with the jury’s recommendation, Wood will be the first person to be sentenced to death in Washington County’s modern judicial history.
The same jury of six men and six women had found Wood guilty Thursday of first-degree murder, burglary of a structure while armed with a firearm and robbery with a firearm.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, six people testified on Wood’s behalf.
Heather Griffin, his older sister, pleaded with jurors to recommend a life sentence without parole. She read a typed letter that described Wood’s tumultuous childhood.
Griffin, who is 15 years older than her brother, recounted how she helped raise Wood from the day he was born until that job became full time after their mother died from colon cancer when Wood was 8 years old.
“Zach has had a very difficult life. None of this is an excuse, but I did my best to raise him,” Griffin said. “I feel in my heart that this is my responsibility.”
Griffin then looked to Shores’ family and apologized.
“I would do anything to take away their suffering,” she said. “My family has suffered, too. This tragedy not only destroyed Mr. Shores’ family, but also mine.”
Griffin described Wood as a helpful younger sibling who had been exposed to factors of abuse and “destructive drug use.” She said Wood had hoped to get clean and away from the influence of his co-defendant in the killing, 21-year-old Dillon Scott Rafsky.
It came to light during the trial that Wood and Rafsky had been in a romantic relationship. Walter Smith, Wood’s attorney, told jurors that his client was coerced into participating in Shores’ killing because he was afraid for his own safety if he didn’t go along with Rafsky.
Washington County sheriff’s deputies found the 66-year-old Shores shot to death on his property April 20. Deputies arrived after they received information from Alabama lawmen that a vehicle connected to the shooting of a state trooper was registered to Shores.
Testimony during the trial indicated that Shores returned to his home to find Rafsky and Wood there. They had been riding in a stolen Jeep on the property when it got stuck. They then burglarized Shores’ home, according testimony presented at Wood’s trial
After Shores told the men to get off his land, prosecutors said Wood and Rafsky allegedly beat, bound and shot him execution-style. They also allegedly dowsed him with him with solvent and tried to set him on fire.
Smith maintained Friday that that his client did not pull the trigger that day.
“It (the death penalty) should be reserved for persons we know beyond a reasonable doubt are capable of taking a human life and have taken a human life,” he said.
“He’s guilty because he helped another individual, but he did not do it,” Smith added.
Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford told the jury the murder met three aggravating factors worthy of the death penalty: It was committed to avoid arrest, during a burglary or a robbery, and was cold, calculated and premeditated.
After the jury returned with its recommendation, Josiah Shores, James Shores’ son, thanked investigators and the prosecutors of the case.
“They all did a good job,” Shores said.
Patterson will consider more mitigating and aggravating factors during a hearing April 17 before he hands down Wood’s sentence. He is not required to follow the jury’s recommendation but must give it great weight.