NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The sentencing trial for the man who pleaded guilty to killing a Nassau County deputy in 2021 resumed Thursday with something unexpected: Patrick McDowell took the stand to testify in his own defense.
He said he believes Deputy Joshua Moyers’ family deserves an explanation.
“They at least need to know why,” McDowell said.
He began by apologizing to Moyers’ family.
“I took the life of a man that was better than me. I’ll never forgive myself for that,” McDowell said.
He said he remembers the night of the shooting vividly and relives it often.
“It makes me physically sick to think about it,” he said. “There is nothing worse you can do than take a man’s life for doing his job.”
McDowell said he was a coward that day and that Moyers did his job so well that the deputy knew McDowell was up to no good with “one look.” He said Moyers was polite and friendly and nothing he did provoked his actions.
McDowell also apologized to the community for the fear he created during the five-day manhunt following Moyers’ shooting.
“My family is going to be dealing with the shame from this probably forever,” he said.
During the testimony, Moyers’ family members who were in attendance became emotional.
During cross-examination, McDowell gave chilling insight into his thought process during the moments before and after he shot and killed Moyers.
“When I took the pistol out of the holster and put it down beside me, I checked the chamber to make sure I had a round loaded because I knew that if (talking) failed, then I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to get away and that included shooting the deputy. And I did that without a single, single thought of taking a man’s life. I was 100% focused solely on myself,” McDowell said. “Whenever he reached for the door handle — I’ve stated several times that I felt pressured. I think I said that to some of the experts, and I did because it seemed like my options were closing to me. All my options of getting away without violence were closing to me. When he grabbed the door handle and the crossing arms came down, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to get away from him unless I, unless I stopped him. So, when he asked me to step out, I turned my body, reached for the seat belt, and I took the gun out, and I shot him. And then as he fell, I fired two more rounds to make sure that he wouldn’t come after me. And then I took off and I just left him there in the street assuming he was dead.”
After he fired the fatal shots, McDowell was on the run.
He said he then told the woman who was in the van with him to turn off her phone because he knew how investigations work. His stepfather was a police officer and his father was in the military.
After the woman said she didn’t want to stay with him, he said, he told her to turn on her phone, give him 5 minutes and then call 911 or they were going to kill her and she could face charges.
He said he knew the deputies who were going to be after him would do their best to kill him but said he was trained in the Marines to fight back and fight first.
So, he grabbed a rifle and set up a hideout. He then saw deputies coming toward him in the woods. McDowell said he still had the option of shooting them.
“That would serve the purpose of stopping the immediate pursuers and also give future pursers a lot more caution and make them less effective in the search because they would be more concerned about their safety,” he testified.
“So to be clear, when you fired you did it deliberately to instill fear in those officers?” prosecutor Mark Caliel asked.
“No, whenever I fired -- actually while I was behind the rifle and I’m not sure why the feeling came to me that I didn’t want to hurt anybody else. It was at that time I started to feel pretty awful about what I had done to the deputy, and I had no intention of doing that to anybody else,” McDowell responded.
Before the defense began Thursday, Judge James Daniel announced that one of the jurors had been excused after getting food poisoning. He also denied a defense motion for a mistrial.
McDowell’s defense attorneys opted to wait until after the state presented its case before making their opening statement for the jury, which they did Thursday morning before McDowell testified.
The jury must decide whether or not to recommend the death penalty for McDowell, who fatally shot Moyers on Sept. 23, 2021, during a traffic stop, which was captured on Moyers’ dash cam.
McDowell pleaded guilty a little over a year ago to first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, injuring a police dog and eight counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
McDowell’s other charges stemmed from the encounter in the woods during the manhunt, which ended when McDowell was found hiding out in a bathroom building at the Kirsten Higginbotham Sports Complex on Sept. 28, 2021.
McDowell’s mental health and documented Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are expected to be front and center as the defense continues to make its case for McDowell to be sentenced to life in prison.
Judge Daniel decided earlier this month that Florida’s current death penalty recommendation rules would apply in the case, meaning prosecutors only need eight jurors to agree to recommend the death penalty.
McDowell’s defense attorneys on Thursday called the first of what’s expected to be dozens of witnesses to testify on his behalf. McDowell’s father took the stand to answer questions about his son’s personal history, and his mother, who lives out of state, testified via Zoom. His grandmother, grandfather and a childhood friend also testified Thursday.
RELATED: ‘My deepest regrets’: Father of man accused of shooting Nassau County deputy issues statement
McDowell’s teenage son and multiple psychologists are also on the defense’s witness list to possibly testify.
Emotional testimony
Before the state rested Tuesday afternoon, jurors heard emotional testimony from members of Moyers’ family, including his fiancée, brother and mother.
A victim advocate read a powerful statement from Moyers’ fiancée, Ivy Carter, who said the pair were inseparable. She said Moyers lived and breathed law enforcement and that she spent many nights not worrying about not if something would happen, but when.
She would go on ride along with him and got to see firsthand the love he had for his job.
Then she described the best day of her life.
“He walks in front of me, his whole body shaking, and asks to marry me. It was the best day of my life. I never got to walk down the aisle. He was taken from me,” the statement read. “I will feel guilt for not just eloping...”
Then she described one of the worst days of her life.
“One teammate showed up at the door banging. He said something along the lines of ‘Josh is hurt we have to go right now.’ I never left the hospital. I feel like part of me is still there,” she said.
Moyers died days after the shooting at the hospital.
Now, Carter said, she is left praying and asking God to help her get over the hatred and honor his memory.
It was clear how angry Moyers’ brother, Jordan, was on the stand.
His testimony brought tears to some jurors’ eyes.
Jordan Moyers talked about getting the call of what happened and contemplating if he should pack his black suit -- because he thought there was no way his brother wasn’t going to make it.
But then he shared how his legs gave out from under him and how he didn’t know it was possible to feel such grief.
He couldn’t keep a job and said he feels that all anyone can think about was the way his brother was brutally murdered.
“Even good memories aren’t what they were,” he said. “In the same moment I think about time we spent playing in the woods by the house, I think about holding his limp hand trying to tell him things he couldn’t hear. Thoughts of us waking up early on Christmas morning, playing together at the pool, or riding 4-wheelers in the woods together are now always shared with thoughts of how Josh was killed. It’s so horrible that it ruins everything.”
He also spoke about how the loss affected more than his family.
“When Josh was murdered, this community lost a great cop, a civil servant who cared for people, for his community, and for making it a better place. I’m not the only one sharing in this loss. And when Josh was murdered, I lost my brother and it has torn every aspect of my life into shreds,” Jordan Moyers said.
Victim impact statements ended with Moyers’ mother Brenda.
She talked about their special bond and how he had so much more to live for.
She said she sees her son in her mind when she looks at other deputies and these unexpected reminders overcome her.
“I used to enjoy creating crafts and making things. Now I go to the store and cry and buy plastic flowers to stick in the grave,” she said. “He deserved so much more. I buy live flowers because he is alive in me. It’s a horrible nightmare as parents as our child was brutally murdered while he protected the community he loved and called home. One of the most heart-wrenching pains is knowing all the good. There is no lineage of him in our family to go forward.”
Dramatic video
Monday’s prosecution testimony began with the jury being shown dash cam video of the Sept. 23, 2021, traffic stop off U.S. 301 that ended in Moyers’ murder -- as the first deputy on the scene testified about what he saw.
According to McDowell’s arrest affidavit, he told a woman who was in the van with him when Moyers pulled him over that he wasn’t going to stop when he saw Moyers’ lights. “I’m not going to jail,” he told her. The woman was identified in court Monday as Noelle Gale.
McDowell did eventually stop for Moyers, pulling off U.S. 301 onto Sandy Ford Road, and stopping just short of the railroad tracks — a decision that would prove fateful for Moyers.
According to the reports, McDowell gave Moyers a false name and didn’t have a driver’s license. Moyers also learned the tag on the burgundy-colored minivan belonged to a different vehicle. Investigators later learned the vehicle had been stolen from Jacksonville.
Gale told investigators later that when Moyers approached the van asking for their IDs, McDowell reached behind his seat for his handgun. Moyers asked McDowell if there was a gun inside the van, and he said no.
Gale told an FDLE agent that when Moyers asked for their IDs, she showed Moyers a photo of it on her phone, and McDowell handed over what she thought was an ID.
In the video, that’s when the railroad crossing arms suddenly activated with bells ringing and lights flashing. Moyers turned to look at the crossing arms for just a moment, and when he turned back, McDowell had a gun in his face — and pulled the trigger, shooting Moyers just below his eye.
Video from Moyers’ dash cam shows McDowell quickly leaning out of the van and firing again at Moyers, hitting him in the back. Then he slams on the gas and speeds through the railroad crossing as the arms come down.
WATCH: Recording of Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers pulling over Patrick McDowell
The backup deputy Moyers had called for arrived about 30 seconds later and found him lying in the road. His frantic “Officer Down” down call can be heard on Moyers’ dash cam video.
The deputy, who testified on Monday, told the court it wasn’t common for Moyers to ask for assistance on these calls, which made him want to get to Moyers fast when he got the original call for backup.
At one point, the deputy said, he was driving 136 mph just to get to Moyers -- almost like he knew something was wrong.
When he arrived, he found his friend and mentor lying on the ground, shot in the face.
Moyers, 29, died from his injuries on Sept. 26, 2021.
‘Either him or the cop’
Gale testified Monday morning, repeating what she told investigators earlier.
“He thought the cop was calling for backup and didn’t want to go back to jail,” Gale said. “He said he was going to run from the cop.”
Then Moyers turned on his lights, and Gale said McDowell said nothing else to her.
She also testified she didn’t know there was a gun in the car until he pulled it out and shot the deputy.
“I asked him why he did that. He told me it was either him or the cop. I was freaking out, and he just kept telling me he was sorry,” Gale said. “I was yelling at him.”
According to court documents, Gale said McDowell yelled, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I had to! I had to!,” as he sped away from the shooting scene, and she answered, “No you didn’t!” and demanded to be let out of the van.
Gale testified Monday that McDowell grabbed her by the arm, they ran into a wooded area, and she told him she wanted to go back. He let her go, and she called 911. McDowell ran the other way, sparking what proved to be a five-day manhunt.
The defense pointed out during Gale’s testimony that McDowell let her go willingly and also mentioned that she is currently facing a drug possession charge.
The aftermath
The first four deputies to arrive at the scene after Deputy Barnes’ Officer Down call took turns with Barnes, administering CPR to Moyers until paramedics arrived. Moyers had been shot in the face and back and wasn’t breathing.
RELATED: Traffic stop to trauma scene: Desperate efforts to save Deputy Joshua Moyers revealed in reports
Deputy Hall said he ran back to his patrol vehicle at one point, frantically throwing things from the trunk to get out an AED and other medical supplies. Deputy Cone said once they had the AED, he cut Moyers’ shirt open so the AED pads could be applied.
Once paramedics arrived, Hall directed them to Moyers, explaining his injuries, and then the deputies helped move Moyers onto the stretcher.
Deputy Holmberg, who had also been helping with CPR at the scene, gave the ambulance an emergency escort to prevent delays in arriving at UF Health Jacksonville’s trauma center.
Despite their efforts, Moyers’ injuries were too severe. He died days later at the hospital.
The manhunt
Records show McDowell served in the U.S. Marines, and a former colleague described him as a “survivalist” and trained shooter.
McDowell remained on the run for days following the shooting as hundreds of law enforcement personnel searched for him in the Nassau County woods.
More than 200 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers focused their search efforts on a 5-square-mile perimeter southwest of Callahan while a statewide Blue Alert was sent out for McDowell.
Body camera video from Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office K-9 Chaos’ handler, Officer Dale Cullen, was also shown in court Monday. The video shows K-9 Chaos picking up McDowell’s trail in the woods in the hours after the shooting.
Cullen lets Chaos go when he realizes the dog might have found something in the woods. And then Chaos starts barking.
“Two gunshots rang out. Heard Chaos yelp. Thinking Chaos’ been hit, and I returned fire -- 18 rounds to what I thought was gunshots coming toward me,” Cullen said.
Multiple officers joined Cullen and fired their rifles into the darkness.
This encounter is what led to McDowell’s injuring a police dog charge and the eight counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The defense argued during Cullen’s testimony that there was only the woods between McDowell and the officers, and McDowell could have seen their flashlights at some point.
Cullen said they sent Chaos in first to take one for the team, knowing that an officer had just been shot. Cullen said he returned fire to save his life and the lives of the other officers.
The capture
Also included in evidence released by prosecutors before the trial were texts back and forth from McDowell and his mother while he was on the run and interviews with McDowell’s friend, Brieana Tole, who tried to help McDowell escape capture.
Tole later pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact after she was accused of driving to the sports complex where McDowell was hiding out in an attempt to get him out of the area and escape arrest, according to an arrest report.
Despite the dozens of shots fired in the woods by law enforcement during the encounter with K-9 Chaos, when McDowell was found days later, he had only two minor flesh wounds.
In drone video of McDowell’s capture at the Kirsten Higginbotham Sports Complex off Ball Park Road, McDowell can be seen crawling out of a concession stand and then being subdued by K-9 Huk.
McDowell was treated for a dog bite wound and then transported to UF Health Jacksonville in a Nassau County rescue accompanied by several deputies in cruisers.
When McDowell was arrested, deputies used Moyers’ handcuffs, Nassau County Sherrif Bill Leeper noted.