‘Nightmare:’ Deputy Joshua Moyers’ family gives victim impact statements at Patrick McDowell hearing

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Day two in the penalty phase of the man who killed a Nassau County deputy, as jurors heard testimony and ahead of recommending a life or death sentence for Patrick McDowell.

McDowell shot and killed Deputy Joshua Moyers during a traffic stop in September 2021. He was caught days later and pleaded guilty. Now, jurors are listening to testimony before giving their sentencing recommendation to the judge.

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There were a lot of emotions in the courtroom. Deputy Moyers’ family was crying, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper was also in tears as Moyers’ family described how difficult this loss has been for them.

“With his whole body shaking, he said ‘Ivy Elizabeth Carter, will you marry me?’ That was top of the list for best day of my life, unfortunately I never got to walk down the aisle to this man as he was taken form me,” a victim advocate said to jurors, reading a letter from Moyers’ fiancée.

“Never got to be the Moyers I so desperately longed to be,” her victim impact statement read.

September 23, 2021 was like any other day for the two. They ate dinner and Deputy Moyers went to work, but that’s when she said her life turned upside down.

“One of Josh’s teammates showed up at my front door, banging the door down around midnight or 1 a.m., I don’t remember a lot but he said something along the lines of ‘Josh is hurt we have to go now,’” her words said.

Moyers’ brother, Jordan, said he still remembers getting the phone call.

“I still remember that moment vividly, I didn’t know it was possible to feel so much grief in that moment,” he said.

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The jury hearing McDowell’s case saw family pictures of the Moyers family, smiling together from when Deputy Moyers was young and throughout the years as he got older.

“Joshua lived his life with a positive outlook, serving, always with a smile,” his father Tim Moyers said.

Moyers’ mother said they can’t shake the nightmare.

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“It’s a horrible nightmare we’re living as parents, our child brutally murdered while he protected this community he loved to call home,” his mother said.

A former friend and coworker said he saw McDowell about a month before the murder, saying he looked a lot weaker and realized he was on drugs. The former friend offered to help McDowell, saying he would pay for his rehab but said McDowell didn’t take it and never heard from him again.

The state rested its case on Tuesday and jurors will be back on Thursday to hear from McDowell’s defense team.

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