By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
BIRMINGHAM — Joshua Stewart Burks took the stand in his own defense in the trial where he’s charged with reckless manslaughter for killing an 11-year-old Trussville boy.
Burks, who was in tears as he entered the courtroom and embraced family members, told one of his supporters that “It just hurts.”
Burks said that the day of the shooting was “The worst day of my life” and broke down in tears as he tried to say the victim’s name.
Troy Ellis and his father, Obed, were on a hunting trip with Burks on a hunting trip organized for wounded veterans on May 1, 2020, the day the boy was killed. Burks, a former U.S. Marine and a teacher and coach, claims he thought Troy Ellis was a turkey when he shot the boy with a an Ithaca Mag 10 shotgun.
Burks described the hunt with the Ellises and Kyle Henley, who had organized the hunt, as “very accomodating” for his disability. Burks lost his right leg below the knee while in the U.S. Marine Corps, and had to physically be helped along some of the rougher terrain. Burks described how Henley and Obed Ellis essentially locked their arms with his and carried him to a seated spot where he could shoot.
The shooting of Troy Ellis came on the group’s second stop of the trip, an idyllic Spring day that would turn into tragedy.
“It was cool, it was quiet … I didn’t see where they (the Ellises) went,” he said. When Henley, his guide, left him momentarily, Burks said that Henley told him: “I’m gonna try something,” and then joked “Don’t shoot me.”
Henley went to the right of the turkey decoy the group had set up, Burks said. A few moments later, he began calling turkeys. A few minutes later, Burks said he heard a rustling sound to his left and slightly behind him.
“I thought ‘he called the birds, and it’s worked,” he said, recalling the moment of heightened tension before he pulled the trigger. Burks and Henley apparently traded hand signals, and then there was the moment when Burks acted. “I leaned forward, shot … I shot the turkey.”
But it wasn’t a turkey.
“I fired at what I saw,” Burks said under cross-examination from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office. “I thought it was a turkey.”
On cross-examination, Burks said that Henley “was not helpful in any way.” However, the assistant district attorney quoted portions of Burks’ original statements to law enforcement after the shooting, where he told investigators that “He (Henley) is very thorough; he does this a lot.”
Burks initially told investigators that Henley “didn’t lead (him) astray at all … he was very helpful.”
He also told the detectives who questioned him originally that “I screwed up.”
The defense rested at 11:15 a.m. after calling two more witnesses. Parties will make closing arguments at 12:30 p.m., with 30 minutes allotted for both the prosecution and defense.
The Ellis family has since settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Burks, Henley and the AHEROES organization in October 2021. The suit claimed, among other things, that Burks had taken a significant amount of pain medication the night before the hunt as well as the morning that they were out in the woods, and that he was “likely not capable of safely handling a firearm and certainly was not capable of making appropriate decisions with regard to handling a weapon.” However, no evidence has been presented to the jury in this criminal trial that this was the case.
Former commander of the Alabama chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, David Riley, also testified for the defense. Riley — a quadruple amputee — was initially supposed to be the only hunter on the trip. However, he testified, there were so many guides that the trip expanded to include Burks and one other disabled veteran.
Riley testified that he had not seen nor heard Henley instruct Burks, who was a novice turkey hunter, the evening before the hunt at what he characterized “an informal get-together.”
“We didn’t do any safety stuff,” Riley said.
Burks testified that he had not received any kind of safety briefing from Henley prior to the hunt, and that Henley had reassured Burks — who did not have a hunting license at the time of the incident and does not have one now — before going into the field.
“Kyle told us we didn’t need one,” Burks said. “He said he knew all of the game wardens and we were on private property.” The shooting took place off of Cedar Mountain Road near Clay.
Defense witness Corky Pugh, the retired director of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, who has reviewed at least 70 hunting accidents in his work at the division and has worked as a guide for turkey hunts, said that Henley made what turned into a fatal mistake when he left Burks alone. In reviewing game warden Cary Bradford’s initial report on the incident, Pugh found the report’s contributing factors to be accurate.
“An inexperienced hunter should not have been left unsupervised,” Pugh said. “I completely agree with that.”
Pugh said there were four key factors that caused the tragedy.
“One, the guide did not properly prepare Burks for the turkey hunt,” Pugh said. “Two, the guide allowed the parties to be seated within shotgun range of one another; Three, the guide walked away from the person he was guiding; and four, when he came back to him, he failed to stop the hunt” once he realized that Burks was aiming toward where the Ellises were seated.
Pugh called the setup for the hunt “a recipe for disaster.”
“I would never have set people apart but within shotgun range of one another,” Pugh said. “When I guide, I am shoulder-to-shoulder with the person I’m guiding. As the guide, I like to be with them for every step. I like to ‘call the shot for them.'”
The defense rested at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday, April 21, after several tense exchanges where the jury was sent to the jury room at least three times over a two-hour period as Circuit Court Judge Clyde Jones corrected procedure and listened to attorneys’ arguments. Closing arguments begin at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon.
This story is breaking and will be updated to reflect the testimony of additional witnesses.