Worley gets his day in court after three year wait

A Whitley County Circuit Court Jury could decide as early as Wednesday whether a Williamsburg man gunned down his niece’s boyfriend in cold blood nearly three years ago, or whether it was an accident or justifiable homicide.
Opening statements began Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Stevie Worley, 49, who is charged with murder in the Aug. 1, 2003 slaying of 17-year-old Dustin Allen Cole.
Cole was shot to death with a .12 gauge shotgun in the yard in front of Worley’s residence about 12:30 a.m.
At the time of the shooting, Cole dated Christy Worley, Stevie Worley’s niece, and she and Cole had an eight-month- old daughter together. Christy Worley was about five year’s older than Cole, and the two began dating when Worley was 12 years old.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said in his opening statement to the jury that Cole and Christy Worley had an on again, off again relationship, and that he went to her uncle’s trailer that evening to bring her a pain pill.
He said the two had spoken on the phone several times the previous day.
Stevie Worley, who had been drinking on July 31, knew Cole was coming to the residence, borrowed a shotgun from a friend, and told the friend he “needed a little protection,” Trimble told jurors. Stevie Worley then hid the shotgun from Christy Worley, and waited outside on a four-wheeler for Cole to pull up.
Cole arrived at the residence with a friend, Chris Rogers, and after he got out of the vehicle, another man outside the residence, Timothy “Red” Leach wrestled Cole to the ground because he didn’t want Cole seeing Christy Worley, attorneys told jurors.
After the wrestling match, Stevie Worley shot Cole in the chest with the shotgun, which caused Cole to stagger backwards, and fall down where he soon died.
While this was going on, Rogers left the scene, and drove to the home of Cole’s mother, Brenda Lee Cole, where he told her that someone was going to kill Cole.
Cole’s mother, Brenda Lee Cole, was in tears as she testified Tuesday morning about going to the scene of the shooting to find her son laying on the ground with blood covering his chest.
She testified that she didn’t see Stevie Worley at the scene following the shooting.
Rodger Clarke, one of Worley’s attorneys, painted a different picture for jurors in his opening statement.
Clarke told jurors that despite Cole’s young age, he had a “history of violence,” and that they would hear testimony about Cole’s previous problems with the law.
“He (Worley) was in fear of his life and the lives of his family,” Clarke told jurors adding that Stevie Worley knew of Cole’s reputation, and that Cole had threatened Worley and his family.
He described Dustin and Christy’s relationship as “stormy.”
While prosecutors contended Dustin Cole was unarmed, Clarke told jurors that the evidence would show that Cole never went anywhere without a knife.
In regards to Worley saying he “needed protection,” Clarke contended, “I think that is absolutely correct.”
He told jurors he believed that the evidence would show that Cole died when the shotgun went off by accident during a struggle for it, and at worst that Worley was justified in believing he needed to defend himself and his family.
Following the shooting, Stevie Worley barricaded himself in the trailer until police arrived. He was taken into custody, and has remained in jail ever since pending trial.