Jury selection begins Monday in two trials involving deadly Waco shootings

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Jury selection in two trials involving the shooting deaths of Waco residents in December 2022 and April 2023 will begin Monday in McLennan County courts.

Brandon Xavier Stephens, 20, of Waco is charged in 19th State District Court with capital murder in the Dec. 23, 2022, shooting death of 59-year-old Stanley Wilcox.

Wilcox’s body was found in a creek bed in the 1100 block of South Ninth Street on the edge of Baylor’s campus.

And in a courtroom down the hall, Charles Earl Ervin, 31, will stand trial for murder and aggravated assault in the April 3, 2023, shooting death of Zachary Hughes and wounding of Tiffany Scott outside a convenience store in the 1800 block .Richterlaan.

Stephens, James Keylan Willis, 20, and Alijah Veshawn Benson, 21, were all charged with murder in Wilcox’s death. Willis’ case is still pending.

Benson, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in September, confessing to his role in the incident and implicating his two co-defendants. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Benson testified at his plea hearing that he gave the gun to Stephens and Willis at a McDonald’s in Dallas on December 22, 2022. He said he knew they were planning a robbery when he gave them the gun.

He said he never left Dallas, but testified that the gun was loaded when he gave it to the couple, but said it was unloaded when they returned it to him the next day. He said that’s when he knew someone had been shot.

After their arrests, Willis and Stephens told detectives that Wilcox had been injured by gunfire during an argument at his home and that they decided they had to “put him out of his misery,” according to an arrest complaint.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against Stephens, meaning he will be sentenced to an automatic life sentence without parole if convicted of capital murder.

In Ervin’s case, investigators say Hughes and Ervin had “ongoing issues” and claim Ervin was looking for Hughes “to attack him,” according to arrest documents.

Police identified Ervin as the alleged shooter by looking at surveillance video near the store. The footage shows Hughes driving to the store in a blue Buick sedan. Scott got out of the car, entered the store and was returning to the store when a man with a gun ran up to him and began shooting at Ervin and Scott over the top of a Toyota pickup.

Both were shot and Ervin later died in a hospital.

Ervin is accused of being a habitual criminal due to convictions for burglary of a habitation and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The usual criminal designation increases the minimum sentence he faces if convicted of murder from five to 25 years in prison.

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