LaFAYETTE, Ga. - A Walker County jury found Carless LeBron Cross not guilty Monday on charges of murder, arson and lying to investigators.
Cross was accused of burning down the home of his estranged wife, Colleen Cross, killing her mother, 71-year-old Nevely Lewis, on Nov. 12, 2015. Investigators believed someone tampered with the propane tank.
Carless LeBron CrossCarless Cross faced multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder, arson and making a false statement to police. The last charge came from his claim that he was at Parkridge East Hospital at the time of the fire. In reality, the fire happened around 10:30 p.m., and he didn't go to the hospital until 2:20 a.m.
But defense attorney David Dunn said his client was mistaken about the time and didn't willfully lie to police.
The prosecution argued Carless Cross burned down the house to spite Colleen Cross, and multiple witnesses have said they heard him threaten to burn down the home several times over the years. He also had burns on his arms and lied about when he had left work the night before. He said he left at 9 p.m., but he actually clocked out at 6:45 p.m., prosecutors said.
Carless Cross said the burn marks were from welding, though his employers said he wasn't a welder at the time of the fire.
Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Beth Evans also pointed out that Cross had a pill addiction. Though he doesn't have a prescription, Xanax was in his system the night of the fire. And in May 2016, police found him passed out in his car on the side of the road. Three oxycodone pills were found in the car. He pleaded guilty to DUI and possession of oxycodone in that case.
In his closing arguments, Dunn threw suspicion onto Colleen Cross, noting that her daughter, Jennifer Miller, testified Friday that her mother changed Lewis' life insurance policy and that Colleen Cross was tired of dealing with Lewis, who suffered from dementia.
"[The dementia was] just getting worse, day by day," Dunn said. "That burden is growing."
Miller's testimony came as a surprise to both sides, bringing the trial to halt on April 25. That was because, while she was under subpoena by the district attorney's office as a potential witness, Dunn said, the state did not tell the defense about her helpful information.
Evans argued that changing the insurance policy did not make Colleen Cross guilty.
"A lot of people in this room have home insurance," she said.
Also, Colleen Cross is not strong enough to pick up a propane tank and she walks slowly and with a cane, Evans said. She couldn't set a fire and get out of the way fast enough.
"It is completely improbable that she set the fire herself," Evans said.
Dunn said the prosecution didn't want the jury to know Lewis had dementia, noting that Lewis' doctor was not called as a witness.
Evans said Lewis' dementia would not have been that intense at the time of her death. She drove herself to the doctor's office and remembered the times of her favorite TV shows.
"[Miller] wanted her mom to look bad," Evans said. "She's hurt. She doesn't understand why the insurance was changed."
"It's important to look at the evidence, not the feelings," Evans reminded the jury before deliberations. "The defense wants you to be distracted and look at the feelings."
But medical documents and multiple witnesses have said Lewis did, in fact, have dementia.
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