NEW BOSTON, Texas-The .45-caliber pistol Billy Joel Tracy snatched from a Rockwall County jailer fired twice as two other jailers fought Tracy in August 1998.
Two days earlier, a jury in Rockwall, Texas, had sentenced Tracy to two life sentences plus 20 years for the brutal assault of a 16-year-old girl, the burglary of a Rockwall home and an assault on a local police officer. Tracy, who had been problematic since being housed in the Rockwall County jail Jan. 28, 1998, seemed "somber" in the days since his trial ended, testified Rockwall Sheriff's Office Detective Glen Hill. Hill, who was in his early 20s at the time, said a decision was made to allow Tracy into an outdoor recreation area Aug. 2, 1998.
"It wasn't very long when we heard somebody over the radio say, 'Oh, God, help me,'" Hill said under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp.
Hill said he and former jailer Trey Leftwich quickly surmised the cry of desperation was from the supervisor of the recreation area. Hill said when he and Leftwich arrived in the razor-wire-enclosed area, they saw Tracy and the guard in a tussle.
"Leftwich was a few steps ahead of me," Hill said. "When Leftwich tackled him (Tracy), the gun went off. Tracy is doing everything he can to point the gun at Leftwich's head."
Hill and Leftwich said Tracy had wrapped a bed sheet tightly around his waist under his jail-issued "jumper" before heading to the recreation yard. Tracy had thrown the sheet over the razor wire fence and made his way over it and into the secure area, where he attacked the armed officer.
Hill and Leftwich testified Thursday morning in the punishment phase of Tracy's capital murder trial. A Bowie County jury convicted Tracy, 39, last week in the July 15, 2015, beating death of Correctional Officer Timothy Davison at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston, Texas. Testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial began Wednesday.
Tracy is facing death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole.
Leftwich, who was about 21 at the time, told the jury he did not know Tracy had possession of the supervisor's duty weapon when he first caught sight of Tracy sitting on top of the man and ran to intervene.
"I could see the barrel. If I hadn't acted, he'd have shot me in the head," Leftwich testified. "He brought the weapon up towards my face, and I grabbed it and shoved it away from us, and the second shot went off. The gun flew out of his hands, and we were fighting for our lives."
It took additional officers and pepper spray to get Tracy into handcuffs and back into a cell, Hill said. The next day, a Rockwall County sheriff's detail took Tracy to a unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Hill described Tracy as "the most difficult inmate I've ever encountered." Hill and Leftwich said Tracy had to be housed alone because he attacked other inmates, and that jailers worked in pairs when dealing with Tracy.
Leftwich testified that Tracy once threatened him with a sharpened pencil and doused him with a cup of his waste, which seeped into Leftwich's eyes and mouth. Pepper spray had to be used on Tracy when he managed to grab a bottle of bleach and get it into his cell.
A letter Tracy penned before his trial ended in Rockwall was shown to the jury Thursday as Leftwich testified.
"Copy this you b**** ass rent-a-cops. I'll get the chance to kill one of you sooner or later. Y'all always make a mistake," the letter said.
Correctional Officer Johnathan Estepp testified that Tracy continued to be a problem once in prison. Estepp said Tracy presented challenges almost every day for several years while housed in administrative segregation at the Allred Unit near Wichita Falls, Texas. Estepp described an incident during which Tracy darkened his cell by breaking the light and covering the window.
Estepp said Tracy used the lining of his mattress like a bag to protect himself from pepper spray and coated the floor in front of his cell door with syrup or soapy water. When a five-man extraction team entered, several of the officers slipped and fell and Tracy stabbed one of them with a handcrafted weapon, Estepp said.
Former Correctional Officer David Byrd testified that he witnessed Tracy's constant disruptive behavior at Allred but that he was able to occasionally have a civil conversation with him. Byrd said when he learned of Davison's death, he remembered something Tracy once said.
"He said he was going to kill a C.O. before it was all said and done," Byrd testified. "He said he had life and he had nothing to lose."
Under cross examination by Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson, Byrd said he did not make a formal report about Tracy's statement.
Thursday afternoon during testimony from TDCJ Lt. Jimmy Bagby, the jury watched a Nov. 20, 2005, video of Tracy stabbing Correctional Officer Katie Stanley at the Clements Unit near Amarillo. Tracy is standing in front of a cell with his back turned on the third floor of I pod in general population as Stanley makes her way up the stairs.
Moments after Stanley passes him, Tracy runs up to her and begins stabbing her from behind. Once Stanley is on the floor, blood dripping to the levels below, Tracy kicks and stomps her head before attempting to pick her up and throw her body over the railing. Unable to lift Stanley, Tracy runs away and retreats to the first floor.
Retired Correctional Officer Robert Mitchell testified that he rushed to the third floor of I pod when the alert was sounded.
"She was covered so much in her own blood, I didn't know if it was a male or female until she started yelling, 'Help me,' and I recognized her voice," Mitchell said.
Tracy pleaded guilty to the assault and received a 45-year sentence, which was ordered to run consecutively to the time he was already serving. TDCJ Office of Inspector General investigators Rick Fernandez and Timothy Burge testified under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards.
Fernandez testified as photos were shown of the bottom floor where Stanley's blood had collected. Burge testified as a photo of Stanley in the hospital was shown to the jury. The clear outline of the tread of an athletic shoe was visible on her forehead.
Under cross examination by Mount Pleasant defense lawyer Mac Cobb, Burge said Tracy was being treated for mental health issues, including a psychotic disorder, at the time of Stanley's assault. Burge also said Tracy's IQ has been measured at 96, a level considered average, and that he has completed a GED.
Stanley is expected to testify today about the 2005 assault. Judge Bobby Lockhart instructed the jury to return to the Bowie County courthouse this morning.