On Tuesday, November 21, 2017, a Tipton County jury returned verdicts of guilty as charged on one count of the Class A felony offense of Premeditated First Degree Murder, one count of the Class C felony offense of Possession of a Handgun by a Convicted Felon, and one count of the Class A misdemeanor offense of Theft against Windal Sherrell Edwards aka “Woo,” following a two day jury trial in Covington.
Edwards was originally indicted in November of 2015, and charged with the above crimes related to the murder of his then girlfriend Crystal Herbert-Weathers on August 26, 2015, accomplished with a stolen handgun.
A sentencing hearing was held immediately after the guilty verdicts on November 21, 2017, in the Tipton County Circuit Court, Judge Joseph H. Walker presiding. The jury found that two aggravating factors applied: That the defendant was previously convicted of one (1) or more felonies whose statutory elements involved the use of violence to the person and that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death. The defendant was then sentenced by the jury to serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank Investigators from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Covington Police Department and the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office for their excellent police work in investigating and arresting the defendant in this case, and would further like to recognize Assistant District Attorney Generals Walt Freeland and Lindsey Williams, who did an outstanding job in preparing and presenting this case to the jury.
“This conviction and sentence demonstrates the continuing commitment of law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office to aggressively investigate and prosecute domestic violence cases in this District, especially where there is a death or serious bodily injury involved. We are glad that we were able to achieve justice for the victim and the Tipton County community in this case” said District Attorney General Mark Davidson.
