NASSAU COUNTY, Fla — The man charged with the murder of Nassau County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Moyers plead guilty on Friday.
Moyers was 29 years old when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Callahan in 2021. His accused killer, Patrick McDowell, was arrested after a four and a half-day manhunt.
McDowell is facing the following charges: first degree murder, use of a deadly weapon on a police canine and eight counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. He is facing the death penalty and is not being offered a plea deal.
Law enforcement officers say McDowell shot Moyers twice, in the face and in the back, during the traffic stop. Moyers later died from his injuries. This happened close to midnight on September 23, 2021 at U.S. Highway 301 and Sandy Ford Road in Callahan, according to officers.
Officers say McDowell then drove away with a woman who was also in the minivan. The ensuing search involved hundreds of law enforcement officers from Florida and Georgia.
McDowell was arrested on September 28 in a ballpark in Callahan. Officers say they released a police canine on him when he refused to comply with their orders and he shot the canine twice. According to Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper, McDowell was arrested with Moyers's handcuffs.
A newly released interrogation room interview details the moments before Moyers was shot. The interview is between Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers and the woman who says she was in the minivan when Moyers was shot.
"'I can't go back to jail,'" the woman told FDLE officers McDowells said. "He said, well, at first, 'No, I have to run, I have to run.' I said, 'No don't run, don't run.' He said, 'I can't go back to jail.' I said, 'No, do not run.'"
In the interview the woman says she and McDowell had met someone in Jacksonville to get drugs and were going trail riding. The woman says after McDowell handed Moyers their IDs, he reached behind the seat for a gun.
"That's when the officer was like, 'Well let me ask you this, are there any guns in the car?'" the woman said in the interview. "And Pat says 'no' and the officer turns away from the vehicle, I guess to check our IDs, and that's when Pat shot him."
The woman is not charged with a crime. Investigators say McDowell dropped her off in a wooded area after the shooting and the woman called police and cooperated.