Death penalty possible for Aug. 12 sentencing; the jury’s findings of guilt include first-degree murder.
Posted: August 5, 2010 - 3:15pm
By David Hunt
A Jacksonville man faces the death penalty after he was convicted of killing his ex-wife’s new lover.
It took a Duval County jury about 2½ hours Thursday to return guilty verdicts on all counts against Jeffery Washington, 45. He is accused of shooting 29-year-old Michael Brooks to death in May 2009 before pistol-whipping his ex-wife, Dorothy Washington, at a Westside apartment complex.
The jury is scheduled to return Aug. 12 to determine if Washington should be put to death.
Jeffery Washington testified he wrestled a handgun away from Brooks and fired it in self-defense. Forensic evidence showed Brooks was shot five times.
Under cross-examination, though, his story shifted from firing the gun once to him saying that he fired subsequent shots at Brooks’ hands. He said the intensity of the situation made his memory unclear.
Jeffery Washington also testified he did not intend to hurt his ex-wife. He said the details of the incident blurred together after he’d taken a bullet in the abdomen.
Dorothy Washington told the jury she shot her ex-husband with a .380-caliber pistol — purchased just weeks before for protection — as he came toward her with the gun that had just killed Brooks.
Defense attorneys argued that their client went to his ex-wife’s apartment because he was concerned about his children. The Washingtons had two girls together before the divorce.
Jeffery Washington had visitation rights on alternate weekends with his daughters. He testified that the last time he’d seen Angel, 10, she cried so hard at the end of the visit that he became suspicious of Brooks’ influence over the girls.
Angel testified that she saw her father shoot Brooks twice without being provoked. She said she’s been attending counseling to deal with the image.
'A courageous woman'
Dorothy Washington testified that her ex-husband had been asking her to get back together — even after she had obtained a restraining order and divorced him.
“I think the story is that a courageous woman protected herself the best she could,” prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda said after the verdict came back.
She testified that Jeffery Washington managed to take away the gun she’d used to shoot him. She said her daughter yelled “Daddy no!” as he lined up several point-blank shots. However, the gun misfired and she was not shot.
But she said he beat her with the firearm.
Jeffery Washington went on the run for two days — with the bullet wound untreated — before turning himself in to the authorities.
Jurors convicted him of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, burglary and aggravated assault.
david.hunt@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4025
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