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Jury deliberating in case of man charged with capital murder in death of Richardson officer

Brandon McCall, 28, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Richardson police Officer David Sherrard in 2018.

MCKINNEY, Texas — Updated at 11:05 a.m. Wednesday to reflect that the jury is deliberating. 

A jury is deliberating in the case of a man who is accused of fatally shooting a Richardson police officer in 2018. 

Defense attorneys rested their case Wednesday morning without calling any witnesses.  

Jurors on Tuesday watched as Brandon McCall admitted on body camera video to shooting at police officers during a call in 2018.

When asked by a Plano police detective why he shot at officers, McCall responded "cuz i wanted to" on the 18-minute video taken inside a hospital room.

The prosecution rested its case late Tuesday afternoon.

McCall, 28, could face the death penalty if a jury of nine men and three women in Collin County find him guilty of capital murder for the death of Richardson police Officer David Sherrard.

Sherrard was killed after responding to a "shots fired" call  Feb. 7, 2018, at the Breckinridge Point Apartments.

Detective Clifford Turrubiarte started the video by reading McCall his Miranda warning, the right to remain silent. McCall agreed to give a statement to the detective.

McCall said the situation started with him shooting his friend Rene Gamez in the leg.  

"[Gamez] ran outside and said 'call the police,'" McCall said on video. "I can't call the police I don't have a phone."

Turrubiarte then asks McCall what happened when Richardson officers arrived at the apartment.

"They broke in - they came in yelling. ... I (expletive) shot at them cuz (because) I wanted to," McCall said.

During opening statements Monday, Collin County Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye told jurors they would become "eyewitnesses to murder."

"The entire murder of David Sherrard was captured on body camera, you’ll see the last seconds of his life," Wirskye said. "You will see him die on videotape. It will be graphic, gruesome and gut-wrenching."

Prosecutors said McCall waited for Richardson officers in a darkened back bedroom of a third-floor apartment after he shot Gamez, 30, in the leg.

Gamez bled to death and was discovered just outside the apartment door by offices as they arrived.

On the stand Monday, Richardson police Sgt. Brian Alcorn described the decision to enter the apartment after discovering Gamez outside.

“I felt like we had to go in because of the amount of the blood involved, we had to go in right there," Alcorn said. "If there was more victims in there, we don’t have time to wait.”

Bodycamera video played for the jury only showed officers force their way into the apartment to try and locate any other victims and clear it as a possible threat.

Approximately five to 10 seconds after entering the apartment, two shots are heard and Sherrard yells out "I'm hit."  

Despite being fatally wounded, officers described how Sherrard managed to walk out of the apartment before collapsing outside.

He died a short time later.

Alcorn described to jurors the feeling of being "hunted" by McCall after they entered the apartment.

"It looked like he was firing directly at me," Alcorn said. "I could see him in the prone position and what I thought was an eyeball.  I realized later it was the rear side of an optic aimed at me."

Alcorn said he fired approximately 30 shots at McCall to defend himself.

Only after another sergeant arrived with a tactical shield, were Alcorn and six other Richardson officers able to retreat out of the apartment, which then triggered a more than four-hour standoff.

McCall surrendered only after the SWAT team fired more than 60 canisters of teargas into the apartment.

Defense attorney Edwin "Bubba" King told jurors McCall's responsibility for what happened is not in question, but added prosecutors have to prove his client acted "intentionally or knowingly".

The defense will begin calling witnesses at 9:30 a.m on Wednesday and King said it was possible the jury could get the case the same day.

If convicted, McCall faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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