An Anderson County jury began weighing the fate of Jason Dockery on Tuesday in the 2023 shooting death of Shysti Mayberry, nearly three years after the Heiskell woman was killed along Moores Gap Road. Dockery is charged with first-degree murder, and no verdict had been reported as deliberations got underway.
The jury began deliberating shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, following closing arguments and more than an hour of debate over jury instructions, according to WBIR. Prosecutors presented more than 170 exhibits during the trial, which began July 27.
The case stems from the September 12, 2023, shooting of 38-year-old Mayberry in the Heiskell area. At the time, authorities said Dockery was in a vehicle with Mayberry and her 21-month-old child, and he was arrested after a two-day manhunt that extended through East Tennessee and into Virginia, as reported by WVLT.
Trial Turns On Competing Accounts Of The Shooting
Witness testimony presented a prosecution account in which Dockery and Mayberry were arguing before shots were heard and Dockery sped away. Eric Dockery also testified that Jason Dockery confessed to killing Mayberry, according to WBIR.
Dockery has offered a different version, saying Mayberry was hostile and grabbed the pistol before he shot her. His defense also challenged how many times Mayberry was shot, pointing to a discrepancy between the medical examiner’s determination and the number of shell casings found at the scene.
Prosecutors argued that jurors must decide whether Dockery kidnapped Mayberry and her daughter, as well as what was happening in his mind before the shooting. The defense, meanwhile, described the relationship as unhealthy and violent and urged jurors to scrutinize the state’s account of what led to the gunfire.
Dockery Remains Presumed Innocent Until Verdict
Dockery remains charged with first-degree murder and is presumed innocent unless the jury reaches a guilty verdict. The deliberations mark the latest step in a case that began with a deadly roadside shooting, a regional manhunt and a prosecution built around conflicting accounts of what happened inside and outside the vehicle.
