Ayers entered guilty pleas yesterday, Oct. 19, admitting to the capital murder of his great-grandparents Sherman and Hazel Bush, robbery, and various weapons-related offenses. According to a news release from Commonwealth Attorney Shawn L. Hines, Ayers' convictions for capital murder are the first in Lee County since the William Spencer murder trial in 1925. For his crimes, Ayers was sentenced to serve four consecutive life sentences, plus 18 years.
Ayers received two life sentences for the murder of each person in the commission of robbery and one life sentence for killing two people as part of the same act or transaction. He received another life sentence for the robbery itself. Finally, Ayers was sentenced to an additional 18 years for the weapons offenses. His guilty pleas prevent him from appealing his sentences.
Since 1994 and the abolition of parole in Virginia, a life sentence means that a full life term is served with no possibility of ever being released.
“The remainder of Jimmy Allen Ayers' existence on this earth will be an extremely miserable one. He will pull his sentence in one of Virginia's top maximum security prisons, such as Sussex State I, Sussex State II, Wallens Ridge or Red Onion State Prison,” said Hines. “His daily life will be spent surrounded by razor wire and four concrete walls. His nights will be spent sleeping on a three-inch Department of Corrections issued mattress. Beyond that, he will have a steel toilet, steel sink and his guilty conscience to keep him company for the rest of his life.”
Ayers faced a maximum punishment of death on these charges, but decided to plead guilty to all counts in order to spare his life. The Commonwealth's Attorney and defense counsel, Walt Rivers and Greg Kallen, both of Wise County, Va., notified Circuit Court Judge Birg E. Sergent of their agreed resolution of the case on Wednesday afternoon. Ayers' trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday, Oct. 23, with selection of a jury. On Thursday afternoon, Judge Sergent formally accepted the proposed agreement between the parties and imposed Ayers' punishment.
Ayers' mother and grandmother, who are also the granddaughter and daughter of the deceased victims, asked early on in the case that Ayers be spared the death penalty. Other family members, including another daughter of the victims, expressed sadness over Ayers' crimes but were relieved that the plea had been reached in the case. The family wanted to avoid the years of endless appeals that would have followed a jury trial conviction.
Sherman Bush, 87, and his wife. Hazel Bush, also 87, were found shot to death in their Jasper home on Feb. 17, 2004, by their daughter, Juanita Sampson.
Sampson, who lived next door to her parents, went grocery shopping around 11 a.m. that morning. When she returned home around 11:40 a.m., she noticed that her grandson Jimmy Allen Ayers, who lived with her, was missing along with her parents' white Dodge pickup truck. Sampson became worried when her parents failed to answer their telephone. She walked over to their house and found them lying dead in their kitchen floor.
Law enforcement authorities named Jimmy Allen Ayers as the prime suspect and a tri-county search for him ensued. Just after 5 p.m, that same day, Sheriff Gary Parsons located Ayers driving the white Dodge pickup truck on Route 612 in the Wallens Creek area. The sheriff gave chase, and Ayers attempted to flee but ended up wrecking into a ditch. Sheriff Parsons, with service weapon in hand, apprehended Ayers as he appeared to reach for a shotgun from inside of the wrecked truck.
Inside of the truck, investigators recovered a 12-gauge shotgun which contained one live shotgun shell, a brown wallet containing $643 in cash, a new car stereo, new speakers and speaker wire. Family members identified the wallet as one belonging to Ayers' great-grandmother, Hazel Bush. The shotgun belonged to Ayers' great-grandfather, Sherman Bush. The officers also located a crucial piece of evidence in the form of a Walmart receipt inside of the truck.
The time stamp on the receipt indicated that Ayers had been shopping at the West Stone Drive Wal-Mart in Kingsport, Tenn., at 1:19 p.m. that day, approximately 2 hours after the Bushes were killed. The receipt shows that Ayers purchased a black shirt, black sweat pants, a car stereo, car speakers and speaker wire paying just under $158 cash for the items.
Wal-Mart security camera footage clearly shows Ayers casually shopping for the clothing and stereo equipment beginning at 1:04 p.m. The camera continues to follow Ayers from the store to his great-grandparents' truck sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot . Ayers appears to install the stereo equipment in the truck before leaving. At the time of his arrest, Ayers was wearing the black shirt and sweat pants he had just purchased at Wal-Mart. The clothing he is seen wearing in the Wal-Mart video was never located. It is suspected that Ayers ditched the clothing and other items in between Kingsport and Lee County.
Ayers told investigators that he installed the stereo equipment in the truck so that he could keep up with the latest news concerning his great-grandparents' murders as he drove around to “clear his head”.
Autopsies performed on both victims confirmed that their deaths were each caused by a single, penetrating gunshot wound. Ballistics tests performed by the Commonwealth also established that shotgun pellets and wadding recovered during the autopsies matched that of the shotgun shell still present in the 12-gauge when it was removed from the wrecked truck. At the murder scene, investigators observed that the pockets of Shennan Bush had been ransacked with the contents dumped by his side.
When interviewed after his arrest, Ayers admitted to being present when his great-grandparents were shot to death. However, according to Hines, Ayers provided investigators with a bizarre tale blaming ruthless drug dealers for the killings. According to Ayers' story, he owed a drug dealer $8,000 on an old cocaine debt. Ayers claimed that this drug dealer went to his great-grandparents' home and shot them in retaliation for his failure to pay his drug debt.
“Ayers gave many conflicting accounts of what went on that day to investigators. First, he spoke of only a single murderous drug dealer. Later, he mentioned that there were two people responsible for killing the Bushes,” said Hines in a news release.
Ayers told investigators that his grandmother, Ms. Sampson, had left to go shopping that day. He laid down to sleep after she left, but was awakened by gunshots coming from his great-grandparents' home. He told investigators that he ran over to their house and was met at the front door by a drug dealer he knew. Ayers explained that this person was holding his great-grandfather's 12-gauge shotgun, put it in his face, and told him he would kill his entire family unless he got his money. Ayers first told investigators that he only saw the drug dealers with one gun - his great-grandfathers'. Ayers could not explain why drug dealers with murderous intentions would barge into his great-grandparents' home to collect on a drug debt and fail to bring their own weapon with them. Only later did Ayers recall that the second person present at the time of the killings had a pistol.
Ayers said he was able to run away from the murderers and hide until they left the scene. When Ayers returned to the house some ten minutes later, he said he discovered his great-grandfather's shotgun lying on the ground. There was also a large pile of cash scattered in their driveway. Ayers told investigators that he knew the money belonged to his great-grandparents, but was unable to explain why the individuals there to collect on a drug debt would leave hundreds of dollars lying behind at the scene.
He admitted that he never offered aid to his great-grandparents and never even checked to see if they were alive or not. He also could not explain why, if what he says happened was true, he never called the police or for medical assistance, said Hines.
“On the other hand, Ayers did admit to gathering up the money scattered in the driveway, picking up the 12-gauge shotgun used to kill them and, then, leaving in their pickup truck,” Hines stated.
During his interview, Ayers informed investigators that they would probably find gunshot residue on his left hand as he had been with a neighbor shooting a pistol earlier that moming. Forensic testing on a sample taken from Ayers' left hand confirmed the presence of gunshot primer residue. However, investigators refuted Ayers' story when they checked with this neighbor. The neighbor stated that he really did not know Ayers except in passing and did not let Ayers shoot a pistol belonging to him that morning. The neighbor also stated that he was out of state at the time Ayers claimed they were together.
Sheriff's Department investigators diligently followed up each and every name and explanation offered by Ayers, Within hours of the killings, however, they had determined that Ayers' story was a complete fabrication and bordered on being absurd. For instance, the alleged drug dealer named by Ayers as the killer was located by investigators. This individual had suffered a traumatic brain injury in January 2004, had been hospitalized for weeks in Bristol, and, on the day the Bushes were murdered, this individual was incapacitated under the care of his sister.
The second named individual alleged to have participated in the killings was never interviewed by investigators because it was determined that such a person never existed.
Investigators were unable to substantiate any part of Ayers' version of events.
“The Commonwealth's Attorney gives the highest accolades to Lee County Investigators Fred Rouse and Taylor Scott for their diligent and relentless work in pursuit of the truth in this case. The investigators put the pieces of the story together perfectly which meant, in large part, refuting each and every false claim of Jimmy Allen Ayers,” Hines said.
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