Jury finds William Woodard guilty of killing DeKalb officers

A jury has found William Woodard guilty in the murder of two DeKalb County police officers.

Woodard is accused of gunning down officers Eric Barker and Ricky Bryant Jr. while the two were working an off-duty security job at an apartment complex in 2008.

Prior to the jury receiving the case, both defense and state presented their closing arguments on Thursday.

Woodard's lawyers spent the last two weeks arguing that the defendant was a man who was "fearing for his life" when he shot two off-duty officers in DeKalb County in January 2008. During the trial, Woodard told a DeKalb County Superior Court jury that he fired in self-defense, afraid that they were going to shoot him.

DeKalb County District Attoey Robert James described the officers as heroes, not thugs with authority like defense attoeys tried to portray them. James also told the jurors that there's no physical evidence Woodard was beaten that night by Barker and Bryant.

After the closing arguments ended, the case was handed to the jury. Jurors began deliberating around 3:45 p.m on Thursday. By 6:00 p.m., the jury had already posed two questions to the judge. They asked to hear police radio traffic the night of the shootings. While listening to that traffic, they wanted to hear the testimony of the commander of the 911 call center.

Woodard was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a weapon during a felony and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Emily Guiterrez, Woodard's mother, said that the verdict came as no surprise. She said that she would visit her son in jail to try and keep him encouraged during the sentencing phase, which begins on Monday. Woodard could receive the death penalty. The defense is expected to call a psychologist to testify about Woodard's mental state.

The officers' family is withholding any comment until sentencing.

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