FORT WORTH -- Screaming and growling and fighting against his shackles, Steven Lawayne Nelson struggled with more than a half-dozen jailers in mid-July in the Tarrant County Jail where he was awaiting his capital murder trial, according to a video shown to jurors on Thursday.
The 30-minute video played in state District Judge Mike Thomas' court showed Nelson alternately screaming, singing and rapping, and straining against his shackles even after being hit with pepper spray. He was eventually strapped into a restraint chair."It was one of the worst days I've ever had as a supervisor in Tarrant County," Sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Chambliss told jurors.Nelson, 25, of Arlington, was convicted Monday of killing Clint Dobson, 28, pastor of NorthPointe Baptist Church in north Arlington, during a robbery on March 3, 2011. Dobson was beaten, bound and suffocated with a plastic bag.Church secretary Judy Elliott was beaten and left for dead but survived.Nelson has also been accused of strangling a mentally ill inmate, Johnathan Holden, who was in a Tarrant County Jail unit with him this year. And he has been formally charged with assaulting a jailer in a separate incident.This week, jurors have been hearing testimony in the punishment phase. Prosecutors Bob Gill and Page Simpson are seeking the death penalty. If the jury decides against a death sentence, Nelson will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.According to testimony on Thursday, Nelson maintains that he has multiple personalities and needs medication to maintain mental stability.Defense attorneys Bill Ray and Steve Gordon have pointed out during questioning that Nelson has taken medication to help him get through the trial. On Thursday, Gordon pressed Chambliss on whether Nelson had received his medication on the day in July when he exploded.Chambliss said he didn't know.Gill countered with questions of his own."Is there any drug in the world that can control a cold-blooded, remorseless killer like Mr. Nelson?" Gill asked."No, sir," Chambliss said.Earlier in the day, a Dallas County probation supervisor said Nelson indicated that he was addicted to the excitement of criminal behavior and thought "the rules didn't apply to him."Sherry Price, his probation supervisor at the time, said Nelson reached those conclusions while attending special cognitive therapy behind bars as part of his probation on an assault charge in Dallas.Nelson seemed to do well in the program, and was released just 10 days before Dobson was killed. However, he did not show up for a scheduled appointment the day he was released and did not make another one set for the morning that Dobson was killed, Price said.Dianna Hunt, 817-390-7084Twitter: @DiannaHuntHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
