David Wiggins was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of Kyle Cavins
According to court documents David Wiggins would force his way into a business where he would shoot and kill the owner Kyle Cavins
David Wiggins would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Where Is David Wiggins Now
David Wiggins is incarcerated at Holman Prison
David Wiggins Case
The State’s evidence tended to show the following. On October 29, 2005, police were dispatched to the B & E Auto Shop (“the shop”) in the Ft. Mitchell community after Kyle Cavins’s body was discovered. Daryl Powell, a sergeant with the Russell County Sheriff’s Department, testified that he was the first officer on the scene and that Cavins’s body was lying on the ground near the entrance to the shop. The medical examiner, Dr. Stephen Bourdreau, testified that Cavins had been shot in the right hip, the chest, and the right ear. The shots to the chest and the ear were fatal shots, Dr. Bourdreau said, and Cavins died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
Bryan McGinnis, Wiggins’s nephew, testified that he worked at the shop with Wiggins and that on October 28, 2005, McGinnis brought his deer rifle, a .35 mm Marlin, to the shop to have the sights repaired for the start of deer season. He said that when he left to go home that day he forgot the rifle and that a box of ammunition was near the rifle. He said that he did not believe that the rifle was loaded and that it was his habit to leave it unloaded. (R. 775–76.)
Brian Sizemore testified that he owned the shop, that on he had worked on October 28, and that McGinnis, Cavins, and Wiggins had also worked that day. He said that McGinnis’s .35 mm rifle was put in an old Pontiac along with Sizemore’s .22 rifle. When he left the shop that day, he said, he drove his car into a ditch and called Cavins for help. At around 11:00 p.m. Cavins came with a tow truck to give him a tow and took Sizemore’s vehicle back to the shop.
Sgt. Grove Goodrich with the Russell County Sheriff’s Department testified that he was dispatched to the shop on October 29, 2005, to investigate the death. He said that when he arrived at the scene Cavins’s body was on the ground and his personal possessions, such as driver’s license, etc., were scattered all around him.
Katherine Richert, a firearms and tool-marks examiner with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that she tested the projectiles recovered from Cavins’s body and the gun identified as belonging to Bryan McGinnis and said that the shots that killed Cavins were fired from that gun.
Kristen Maturi, a forensic biologist with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that she conducted analysis on the stains found on a pair of blue jeans, a T-shirt, and a washcloth identified as belonging to Wiggins. The substance on each item was blood, Maturi said, and the blood on the jeans and shirt matched Cavins’s blood. The blood on the washcloth was consistent with Wiggins’s DNA, Maturi said.
Jonathan Beasley testified that when he entered his hunting cabin in Phenix City on October 30, a man he identified as Wiggins held a gun on him and asked for his truck and a rifle. Wiggins, he said, took his 1993 Ford Ranger truck, his money, and some cigarettes.
Wiggins testified in his own behalf. He said that he had been friends with Cavins for about seven or eight months before Cavins’s death. He said that on the day of the shooting he started drinking before noon and that he drank about 20 beers and he was also smoking “pot” and was intoxicated. Wiggins testified that he left the shop to take his nephew home and that he returned later in the evening. He testified that when Cavins came back to the shop with the tow truck he shot Cavins once, but he did not remember shooting him more than once. After he shot Cavins, he said, he left to get more “dope” and exchanged the vehicle he was driving for more “dope.” Wiggins said that he eventually ended up in a cabin in Phenix City on Saturday night, that the door was open and the he entered, that he lay down on the bed to get some rest, and that when the cabin owner entered he thought it was the police. After he left the cabin in the owner’s truck he telephoned his mother, Wiggins said, and she convinced him to surrender to police. Wiggins testified:
“[Defense counsel]: You’re not here today to say that you didn’t kill Kyle Cavins, are you?
“[Wiggins]: No, I think that’s obvious.
“[Defense counsel]: You’re not here to say that Jeremy Johnson killed Kyle Cavins, took his truck?
“[Wiggins]: No.
“[Defense counsel]: You did all that, didn’t you?
“[Wiggins]: Yeah, that’s correct.”
(R. 1130.)
The jury convicted Wiggins of capital murder and robbery. A separate sentencing hearing was held, and the jury recommended, by a vote of 10 to 2, that Wiggins be sentenced to death. The circuit court followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Wiggins to death. This appeal, which is automatic in a case involving the death penalty, followed. See § 13A–5–53, Ala.Code 1975.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/al-court-of-criminal-appeals/1665527.html
