LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – The teenager accused of killing his parents and three siblings in 2019 is back in court Friday for the fifth day of his capital murder trial. Sisk was 14 years old when his family was killed.
Late in the evening on September 2, 2019, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home on Ridge Road in Elkmont where they found John Wayne Sisk, 38, Mary Sisk, 35, and three children — 6-year-old Kane, 4-year-old Aurora and 6-month-old Colson. All had been shot in the head and killed.
Sisk is now on trial for multiple counts of capital murder. Due to his age at the time of the crime, he is not eligible for the death penalty.
During Tuesday’s testimony, the court heard from several witnesses including the family friends the Sisks visited in Florida the weekend before the murders, as well as first responders who were on the scene that September night.
On Wednesday, the court viewed autopsy photos and body camera footage from the night of the murders. Dr. Jonrika Malone, the state medical examiner who performed the autopsies, and Limestone County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Fields, the first deputy to speak to Sisk at the scene, were some of the witnesses called.
On Thursday, court was in session for nearly 12 hours. At the beginning of the day, the defense filed a motion for a mistrial, and Limestone County Judge Chadwick Wise said he would take the motion “under advisement” before testimony continued from multiple witnesses, including Sisk’s former girlfriend and another teen who went to school with Sisk.
News 19 Investigative Reporter Dallas Parker reported that the court was shown up-close photos of the victims without warning. Mary Sisk’s family members were all seen visibly struggling through this and other parts of the day.
Friday morning began with no decision from the judge on the pending mistrial motion from Sisk’s defense. The first witness of the day was called by the prosecution, Kimberly McCluskey, who worked as a nurse practitioner in the Limestone County Jail. She did a mental health check on Mason in Feb. 2021. The defense objected, and the prosecution decided not to question McCluskey further.
Jamie King, a former Limestone County Sheriff’s deputy now working for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) took the stand and was referred to as a “firearms expert” by the prosecution. King was asked about becoming a certified sniper with the Marines, qualifications for shooting small targets, and combat marksmanship. Sisk’s defense has previously questioned how Sisk could have the skills to kill five people so rapidly and accurately with a pistol.
King also spent time as a Narcotics Investigator with LCSO and was asked if he recalled any calls about the Ridge Road home, he said no. Earlier testimony cited that the father, John Sisk, had drugs in the home and Mary Sisk disposed of them by ‘call to the cops.’
King was involved in the search for the alleged murder weapon the day after the shooting. The weapon found was a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol. He says there was an unspent round in the chamber, and the magazine was empty. He later discussed how similar the pistol was to the replica BB gun that Sisk owned. King claimed that if someone could operate the BB gun, they could operate the 9mm.
During the defense’s cross-examination, they also discuss firearm training and how those fundamentals matter in the training. King said fundamentals matter, “at a distance.” The defense noted that even with all King’s extensive training he still scored a 90 on the test, missing 10% of his shots.
The final question from the prosecution was about “first-person shooter video games.” Earlier testimony from one of Sisk’s friends claimed Mason enjoyed playing Call of Duty, an example of those types of video games. King claims it is fair to say a person can “gain important knowledge about firearms” from the games.
You can follow Friday’s proceedings below. App users, tap here to view the blog.
