Man accused of shooting Burleson cop found guilty in slaying of North Texas woman

A man accused of fatally shooting a woman and wounding a Burleson police officer in 2021 was found guilty of capital murder by a Johnson County jury on Thursday.

The jury found 42-year-old Jerry Don Elders guilty in connection with the fatal carjacking of 60-year-old Robin Waddell. He now faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty, with the jury hearing arguments in the sentencing phase of the trial.

Elders’ conviction is for the killing of Waddell and not the wounding of the officer.

Police have previously said the injured officer, Joshua Lott, made a traffic stop about 4:15 a.m. on April 14, 2021, in the 1100 block of Southwest Hillside Drive.

A car that appeared to have two men and a woman inside was stopped due to a defective taillight, officials have said. Lott approached the passenger side of the car when one of three people inside fired multiple times and he was struck in the chest, neck and shoulder, Burleson police Chief Billy Cordell said in 2021.

Police believe the officer returned fire and the suspects drove away, abandoning the car about 2 miles from the shooting, Cordell said.

When police found the vehicle, it was damaged by fire, and it was unclear if the blaze came from an engine problem or if someone tried to set fire to the car, Cordell has said.

The people in that car are then believed to have gone to a home in the 8000 block of County Road 802 and carjacked a woman’s car.

She arrived about 8:45 a.m. at the Joshua Police Department with gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital, where she died, police have said.

Elders, who had a previous warrant out for his arrest connected to possession of a controlled substance, was identified as a suspect in the shootings, police said.

A Blue Alert was issued for Elders, believed to be driving a stolen Toyota Tacoma belonging to the woman who was killed.

Shortly after, investigators tracked the car through license plate readers in Denton. Gainsville police pursued the car, which Elders abandoned before he was caught in a wooded area, the police chief has said.