A Bowie County district judge denied a defense motion for a change of venue in the murder trial of a Texarkana woman accused of murdering her former son-in-law in July 2015.
Annette Fisher, 54, appeared with attorney Mark Lesher of Mount Pleasant for a hearing Thursday morning at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston, Texas. Lesher argued that pretrial publicity about the case has made getting a fair trial in Bowie County unlikely for Fisher and asked that the trial be transferred to another Texas county.
Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards argued that media coverage of the July 22, 2015, shooting of Russell Scott Cain, 28, in the parking lot of Pete Mankins Used Car Center on Summerhill Road in Texarkana, Texas, has not been pervasive, inflammatory or prejudicial. The state pointed to other murder cases tried in Bowie County over the last several years as well as prior acquittals by juries in sex abuse cases which were the subject of pretrial news coverage.
Fifth District Judge Bill Miller denied the defense’s motion and the case remains set for jury selection Jan. 9 at the Bowie County courthouse. Fisher faces five to 99 years or life in prison if found guilty.
Fisher allegedly brought lunch to Cain before unloading nine shots from two magazines into Cain in the parking lot of the car dealership where he worked. Fisher’s daughter and Cain had divorced a few months prior and Cain had received custody of their two young children.
