Texas prosecutors told jurors they will hear rising professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson’s last screams and the gunfire that killed her as the murder trial of the woman accused of shooting her started on Wednesday.
What Happened?
In connection with the competitive gravel and mountain bike racer Wilson’s death in May 2022, Kaitlin Armstrong, 35, has entered a not guilty plea to murder. She could spend up to 99 years behind bars. When Wilson was discovered at a friend’s house ahead of a race in which she was one of the favorites to win, she had been shot multiple times.
During the opening remarks, Travis County prosecutor Rickey Jones told the jury, “The last thing Mo did on this earth was scream in terror.” He claimed the screams were recorded by neighboring security cameras.
“Those screams are followed by ‘Pop! Pop!'” Jones stated, emphasizing his point by striking his fist into his hand. “You won’t hear any more screams after that.” Following those bullets, Jones stated, “Kaitlin Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and put a third shot right into Mo Wilson’s heart.”
Geoffrey Puryear, the defense lawyer, claimed in a brief opening statement that Armstrong was entangled in a “web of circumstantial evidence.”Puryear stated that neither eyewitness nor video evidence can identify Armstrong as being at the shooting location.
Free From Detention
Source: ABC News
Wilson, a 25-year-old native of Vermont, was reportedly swimming with Armstrong’s competitive gravel racer boyfriend, Colin Strickland, earlier in the day, according to the police. Three weeks after Armstrong allegedly attempted to break free from detention, the trial got underway.
Authorities claim Armstrong attempted to flee from two officers who were accompanying her to a doctor’s appointment outside of the jail on October 11, which changed the course of the case.
Armstrong was seen on cell phone footage taken in the parking lot running from an officer while wearing striped jail garb and handcuffs. He was also seen attempting to scale a fence. According to authorities, Armstrong seemed to plot her escape by claiming to be hurt in order to schedule an outside medical appointment and have her leg cuffs taken off. She also faces a separate felony escape charge, which carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.
