Published: June 08, 2009 09:27 pm      

Jury recommends 117 years for attempted capital murder

TAZEWELL, Va. — A jury has recommended a Tazewell County woman spend more than 100 years behind bars for her role in attempting to kill a local police officer.

Tracy Marie Coxton, 33, of Bandy, was found guilty of two counts of attempted capital murder in connection with the Oct. 19, 2007, shooting of Deputy Eric Mullins of the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office. The shooting prompted a two-state manhunt near the state line of Bluefield, Va., and Bluefield.

On Monday, a Tazewell County jury recommended Coxton be sentenced to 117 years in prison for the 14 crimes for which she was found guilty, Tazewell County Commonwealth Attorney Dennis Lee said. The jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial late Friday.

Along with the attempted capital murder charges, Coxton was also convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of statuary burglary while armed with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery, five counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Coxton was acquitted of three charges — two counts of use of a mask in commission of a crime and one count of robbery, Lee said.

Deputy Mullins was shot twice when he approached a vehicle he stopped in Bluefield, Va., that matched the description of a vehicle involved in a pair of robberies in Claypool Hill and Richlands on the morning of Oct. 19.

Mullins was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he was shot, and has since recovered from his injuries.

Coxton, Scotty Stinson, 29, of Bandy, Va., and Wallace Stearil Kinder Jr., 35, of Cedar Bluff were all indicted last year on attempted murder charges relating to the incident.

Stinson, who officials allege was the trigger man, entered a no contest plea to the charges last year and was sentenced to two life sentences.

Kinder’s trial is scheduled to begin next week.

— Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com