WARREN – The murder trial of a Town Bluff man began on Monday, with a verdict expected to be reached by Wednesday.
Cody Allen Knight, 34, is being tried in District Court for shooting Earnest Williams, a 35-year-old Woodville man, last April. The injuries Williams sustained eventually resulted in his death.
A jury was selected last Friday, and seated on Monday morning, when proceedings began.
At press time, witnesses were still being called to testify, but according to the District Clerk’s office, a verdict was expected on Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting, which occurred in late April, happened at a residence south of Warren. When deputies with the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call, they found Williams on the scene, with a gunshot wound to the head, but still alive.
Williams died just days later, on April 20, after being transported to a hospital in Houston, and Knight, who was being held in the Tyler County Jail, was subsequently charged with murder. He’d been arrested after a search warrant was executed after evidence and statements at the crime scene tied him to the incident.
Deputies also confiscated a .22-caliber weapon.
Knight has been in custody on bonds of $1 million and awaiting trial. He had initially been handed down a $500K bond by Judge Tina Self on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, while Williams was still alive and receiving treatment.
If convicted, he faces a sentence ranging from 5 to 99 years in prison.
