MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Convicted killer Dexter Cox was found guilty of a second murder Thursday afternoon, and will continue to serve his current life sentence as he awaits trial for a third killing.
The jury heard closing arguments and deliberated for less than an hour before returning a guilty verdict for First Degree Murder. During the trial the defense did not deny that Cox was responsible for the death of 42-year-old Gwendolyn Cherry, but argued the fatal shooting was not premeditated.
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong, who was a homicide detective at the time of the October 2007 murder, testified that Cox was carefree and relaxed when he detailed the murder for detectives.
"He said he was walking down the street she walked up to him and asked for change. He told her he didn't have any. She cursed him, he said I got mad, I got a gun out of my pocket and started to shoot her. He said when he started to shoot her she took off running and to use his own words, he said, 'I hunted that b**** down and continued to shoot her,'" Armstrong told jurors.
Armstrong also told jurors Cox felt empowered when he killed. "He enjoyed the fact that when he put a gun in his hand the power that he felt, especially the power he felt when he killed someone," Armstrong said. "When he pulled the trigger and killed somebody, he got what he described as a rush."
Cox is already serving a life sentence for the First Degree Murder of 76-year-old Herbert Wooten in a botched robbery attempt. He is also accused of First Degree Murder in the January 2008 shooting death of MPD Lt. Ed Vidulich in the officer's Frayser home. That trial date is still pending.
Dexter Cox is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13. He faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years, life in prison without parole, or the death penalty.
