NEW BOSTON, Texas-Jury selection in the capital murder trial of a Texas prison inmate facing a possible death sentence is scheduled to resume Monday morning at Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston.
Individual questioning of the 331 members of Billy Joel Tracy's jury panel began Wednesday, Sept. 13, with eight potential jurors reporting per day. Last week, selection occurred only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, so that 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart could conduct other pressing court business. As of Friday, 10 jurors had been seated. Jury selection will continue until 12 jurors and two alternates have been selected.
Tracy, 39, is accused of beating 47-year-old Correctional Officer Timothy Davison to death the morning of July 15, 2015, during a routine walk from a prison day room to Tracy's one-man cell in administrative segregation at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston. Tracy, who had allegedly packed all of his personal belongings before walking out of his cell for an hour of recreation, attacked Davison after slipping his left hand free of its cuff. After knocking the officer to the floor, Tracy allegedly grabbed Davison's metal tray slot bar and used it to pummel him.
If Tracy's jury convicts him of capital murder, the trial will enter a second phase during which both sides will present testimony concerning the punishment Tracy should receive: death by lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole.
Tracy's prison history began in 1995 when he was sentenced to a three-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. Three years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with parole possible, plus 20 years for burglary, aggravated assault and assault on a public servant in Rockwall County, Texas. In 2005, Tracy received an additional 45-year term for stabbing a guard with a homemade weapon at a TDCJ unit in Amarillo, Texas. Tracy was sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for attacking a guard at a TDCJ unit in Abilene, Texas.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is leading the prosecution. Tracy is represented by Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana.
Tracy will be held at the Telford Unit during the trial, which is expected to last two to three weeks.