After two hours of deliberation Thursday, an Oktibbeha County Circuit Court jury found Verina Marie Childs guilty of murdering her husband, Douglas, in 2009.
Verina shot Douglas in the back while on a hunting trip off Hawkins Road in Oktibbeha County the morning of Nov. 22, 2009.
Judge Lee Howard presided over four days of testimony this week, which included ballistic and forensic tests that linked Verina Childs to the murder scene and the rifle used to kill her husband. In previous recorded statements to the Oktibbeha County Sheriff”s Office, Verina Childs said she didn”t fire the single rifle shot that killed Douglas Childs.
Verina Childs, who didn”t testify, will spend life in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Her attorney Rob Roberson declined comment following the verdict in anticipation of filing an appeal.
“We”re elated,” Douglas” sister, Sara Jo Jones, said. “God has answered every prayer we”ve had. I pray for Verina and her family because they”re going to be going through a hard time, too.”
Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Clemons praised the thorough investigation and subsequent evidence uncovered by the OCSO, which had multiple officers involved in the investigation.
“They did a great job with the case and on the stand,” Clemons said. “There”s nothing we can do that will bring this victim back to his family and the people that love him. I feel they got some justice for Doug.”
Verina Childs was interviewed by the OCSO three days before she was arrested and charged. During questioning, her explanation of when she left the woods and sent text messages to Douglas conflicted with the testimony from another hunter, Dale Parker. Parker, along with several other hunters, heard the gunshot.
Parker called friend Richard Ashmore at 7:09 a.m. and told him about the gunshot and that he saw someone walk out of the woods. Verina Childs said she sent her husband a text message at 7:07 a.m., telling him she was leaving the wood. But she told investigators she didn”t hear a gunshot.
“She was supposedly at her house when she (sent the text), but her cellphone didn”t put her there,” OCSO Sheriff Dolph Bryan said.
The case was initially investigated as a hunting accident until the evidence started to stack against Verina. The slug matched her hunting rifle, which she admitted taking to the woods before returning home. Forensic evidence eliminated the chance of the gun being any further than a foot-and-a-half from Douglas” back, which ruled out the possibility of it being a hunting accident involving someone else.
“If you believe Verina, someone came in, got that gun, walked back into the woods and shot Doug in two minutes,” Clemons said in her closing argument. “She shot him in the back and left him to die in the woods.
“His family can rest easier now that this over.”
The final week of Oktibbeha County Circuit Court wraps up today.
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