Patrick McDowell pleads guilty to killing Nassau deputy; still faces possible execution

On a dark Nassau County road shortly before midnight in September 2021, a young deputy was mercilessly gunned down during a traffic stop. Joshua Moyers, a 29-year-old engaged to be married, would die a couple of days later.

Patrick Rene McDowell, a troubled military veteran on drug-offender probation, was not going back to jail. That's what the woman with him in a stolen minivan said he told her at the time. Then blam! And blam again!

"Pat pulls a gun out from behind him and shoots the poor innocent man with his whole life ahead of him," the woman, who is not being identified due to the state's privacy laws, told investigators in court documents. "I then see Pat reach out of the window and shot him again like the first time wasn't enough?"

Patrick Rene McDowell:What we know about Patrick McDowell, the suspect in Nassau Deputy Joshua Moyers' death

On Friday, the 36-year-old McDowell put a halt to the trial by pleading guilty to first-degree murder, eight counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and one count of use of a deadly weapon on a police K-9.

Judge James Daniel spent several minutes explaining and making sure McDowell understood the ramifications of his guilty pleas, making it clear he still faces a possible death penalty. Although McDowell at one point requested a moment to collect himself because he hadn't taken his morning medications and wasn't feeling well, he apologized for the interruption and politely answered yes sir to the judge's questions.

Daniel also thoroughly addressed new legislation being considered that would do away with unanimous jury decisions being needed to recommend the death penalty. Although it is too early to tell if it would have any bearing on this case, he wanted to make sure McDowell was aware of the proposed changes.

The current law was changed by the Florida Supreme Court in 2017 and calls for a unanimous verdict by jurors to recommend execution. However, Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed for legislation allowing a majority of eight of the 12 jurors to recommend death.

McDowell said he understood and wanted to move forward with his guilty pleas. The judge said the sentencing phase for first-degree murder would be separate from counts two through 10, and jurors would hear mitigating factors and further testimony to decide on recommending life in prison or execution. He set May 18 for a presentencing hearing and Sept. 8 for jury selection for the penalty phase.

“McDowell’s guilty plea is a testament to the exceptional work of law enforcement," State Attorney Melissa Nelson said. "This a positive step toward justice for Deputy Moyers, his family, and Nassau County. Today’s plea does not alter our course — the state will continue to seek the death penalty for this heinous crime.”

Moyers' family also was in court but declined to make a statement, according to the State Attorney's Office.

Law enforcement members also filled many of the seats in the courtroom, and Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper didn't mince words afterward.

“This is a death penalty case. That’s exactly what he should get," the sheriff said. "Even though that won’t bring Josh back, this evil, cold-blooded cop killer should get nothing less than what he will receive. He stuck his arm out, pulled the trigger and took a life. If he was brave enough to do that. He should be brave enough to stick his arm out and take that needle of death, give up a life.”

How did Patrick McDowell get caught?

After the shooting, McDowell fled briefly in the van before abandoning it and hiding under a shed with the woman. She said she convinced him to let her go, and she called 911 when she was far enough away and cooperated with deputies, according to court documents.

During the ensuing manhunt, officers and McDowell exchanged gunfire and he and a K-9 were wounded. But McDowell eluded authorities for several days.

He had contacted another friend through social media pleading for her help, but he was being monitored by investigators. McDowell said he was in pretty bad shape and was either going to die out there or by police.

"I need u more now than I've ever need another living soul," he messaged Breiana Elizabeth Tole, according to the court documents. Authorities were able to stop Tole before she arrived at his hideout, and a SWAT unit apprehended McDowell hiding in a restroom outside some Callahan ballfields. He was suffering from two bullet wounds from the shootout during the initial search.

Tole, 29, also was charged with accessory after the fact and pleaded guilty in August. She is still awaiting sentencing. The woman who was initially with McDowell the night of the shooting was never charged.

What happened before Deputy Moyers was shot?

The 25-year-old woman who had gone out with McDowell that day told investigators she met him through mutual friends about a year prior. He had picked her up from her Jacksonville home about 8 p.m. Sept. 23 and they met with a couple of people behind a Southside Big Lots store to purchase methamphetamine, according to one of the supplemental reports.

They headed for Georgia where McDowell said "they could ride trails and shoot guns." En route they realized they needed gas, so they looked for an open station before finding one on U.S. 1 and headed back out.

Then about 11:45 p.m. on Sandy Ford Road, south of Callahan, something caught the deputy's attention about the van and he activated his emergency lights, the Sheriff's Office previously said.

Deputy Joshua Moyers: JSO K-9 Huk seen charging in to get suspects before being shot in new police bodycam

After McDowell realized they were being pulled over, the woman said he told her, "I'm not stopping, I'm not going to jail," according to one of the investigative reports. She said she told him, "You should probably stop." So he pulled over near some railroad tracks west of U.S. 301.

When Moyers asked for registration and IDs, McDowell gave him a bogus name. Once that was learned, the deputy asked McDowell whether he had any weapons and to get out of the vehicle, according to the documents. Moyers was then shot in the face, collapsed to the ground and was shot again.

What else is known about Patrick McDowell?

McDowell is from Harrisburg, Ill., but was living in Jacksonville since at least 2011, according to his Facebook page and court records. It's unclear if he was employed but he did work at Affordable Fence at least in 2019 and had security jobs, according to court records.

McDowell served in Iraq for the U.S. Marine Corps and was trained in munitions, survival, target acquisition, weapon retention, disarming, force on force and medical. His father said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from depression and some physical infirmities.

"At first, he was motivated to deal with his demons and started a family," his father, Richard McDowell, said. "As time progressed, he slipped into a darker place."

He said his son turned to drugs and stopped going to his Veterans Affairs appointments. He began stealing to support a drug habit and was arrested and accepted into Veterans Treatment Court.

Patrick McDowell: Documents in Nassau Deputy Joshua Moyers' death explain suspect's past and what happened that night

He was doing well until the COVID-19 pandemic struck and court sessions went virtual, with less supervision, his father said. He "slipped back into his old habits" and was arrested in Georgia and jailed for a year.

Another friend and former security co-worker said McDowell told him he was living out of the van, according to the investigation. McDowell told him he had a close friend from his time in the Marines who committed suicide a couple of years ago and that hurt him mentally. He also was dating a woman addicted to drugs around the same time and thinks that's when he went on a downhill spiral.

Nassau County court records do not show any prior arrests there for McDowell.

What is known about Deputy Joshua Moyers?

Moyers grew up in Nassau County and went to Hilliard Middle-Senior High School, Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. Johns River State College.

He was a Sheriff's Office Explorer from early 2011 to May of 2013, then started as a deputy in 2015. On July 14, 2018, Moyers received an Above and the Beyond the Call of Duty award for his work on a narcotics case, the Sheriff's Office said.

"A hero even after death," the Sheriff's Office said Moyers' donated organs were designated for five people including an infant.

His parents, Brenda and Tim Moyers, their son Jordan and Moyers' fiancee, Ivy Carter, helped Leeper unveil a memorial sign with his name on it on Sandy Ford Road near where he was shot. Leeper said the sign will help everyone "always remember Josh" as they pass.

Lawman remembered: Florida community mourns Joshua Moyers as search continues for Nassau County deputy's killer

He said Moyers was a great deputy, a fun man to know and really loved serving his home county.

"His death affected our agency as you can imagine quite a bit, and it affected our entire community," Leeper said. "It is good to see the community come together as one in law enforcement and work together to make our community a better place. Josh would have wanted that."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Patrick McDowell pleads guilty to Nassau Deputy Joshua Moyers' death