McCormick waives preliminary hearing
The man accused of strangling a 57-year-old auto dealer to death this May was bound over to the grand jury Tuesday on criminal homicide charges.
The suspect, Jody Lee McCormick, 28, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in General Sessions Court Tuesday and was bound over to the grand jury by Judge Larry Ross. McCormick’s case will go before the tribunal next month during its regular session.
McCormick reportedly confessed to strangling Junior Tanner to death outside the victim’s Viola Highway car lot during an altercation between the two. The victim was found the following morning inside his burned out trailer, which was reportedly set ablaze by McCormick to cover the crime.
While confessing to the killings, McCormick maintains he acted in self-defense after Tanner cut him with a knife. McCormick said he did not mean to kill Tanner. The exact reason why McCormick was at Tanner’s residence is unknown.
McCormick had a gun and knife belonging to the victim in his possession when he was arrested two weeks after the killing. Investigators also believe it was McCormick’s blood they found at the scene, the result of his being cut with a knife as he claimed. DNA tests are being conducted on the blood.
The charge of criminal homicide, which McCormick faces, is a catch-all charge. Grand jurors will determine exactly which class of homicide to charge the defendant based on the evidence they hear next month. Prosecutors say they intend to seek life without chance of parole against McCormick should he be convicted on the potential top charge of first-degree murder.