LEBANON, Ohio -- A Warren County jury found a Lebanon man guilty Thursday of murdering his friend on Christmas 2016.
Zachary Wilson, 26, shot and killed 24-year-old Jeremy Foxx. Carlisle police found Foxx dead in the road on Montgomery Avenue that night.
Wilson, Foxx, and Foxx's cousin had spent the previous day using methamphetamine, according to a news release from Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell. Wilson told detectives that, while they were looking for more drugs, he thought Foxx was reaching for a gun. He said he acted in self-defense when he grabbed a gun from under the driver's seat and shot Foxx multiple times. However, Wilson later admitted that Foxx never threatened him.
After the shooting, Wilson kicked Foxx's body out of the vehicle, according to Fornshell. Wilson and Foxx's cousin then went to Caesar's Creek and burned their clothing. He also spray painted the inside and outside of the vehicle to cover up blood, and even welded on a ladder rack to disguise it. Wilson then fled to Kentucky.
"I know some people view drug use as a victimless crime," Fornshell said in a news release. "But the defendant's week-long bender and meth-fueled paranoia directly contributed to the brutal murder of Mr. Foxx, and endangered the lives of a family enjoying Christmas while bullets indiscriminately flew into their home."
Wilson is guilty of murder, two counts of felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation and tampering with evidence.
Judge Robert Peeler will sentence Wilson at a later date.
