ACTION 8 UPDATE: Man convicted of capital murder in Troy

ACTION 8 UPDATE: A man has been convicted of capital murder after a shooting outside of a Troy apartment in 2020.

The District Attorney’s office says Wadrickus Howard was convicted of killing 21-year-old Jacoby Cogburn of Ramer at the Tanglewood Apartments in the 300 block of Elba Highway on July 13, 2020. Howard was 17 years old at the time.

Prosecutors say on that night, Howard waited inside a car to kill a resident who lived at the complex. When the door of the apartment opened and people walked outside, Howard began shooting at the first person who walked out of the door.

They say he shot multiple times from the back seat of the vehicle and he and a co-defendant drove off. Instead of shooting his intended target, prosecutors say Howard shot Cogburn, striking him in the head and killing him instantly.

The District Attorney’s office says Howard made efforts to hide the gun and to flee Troy. After his arrest, prosecutors say Howard denied any knowledge of the shooting and claimed he was in Montgomery at the time of the murder.

During the trial, prosecutors say Howard chose to testify in his own defense and admitted to being present at the murder, claimed that someone else shot first before he opened fire, and admitted to killing the victim.

Sentencing for Howard will be set at a later date. The only sentencing options available to the court will be life without parole or a juvenile life sentence, which requires 30 years served day for day prior to any eligibility for parole.

— Information from the District Attorney’s Office, 12th Judicial Circuit of Alabama