Prosecutor Shannon Johnson asks jury
for first degree murder conviction

Defense attorney John Oshoway
says Husk was defending himself

UPDATE - The 2nd degree murder case against Thomas Lee Husk endeded with a hung jury.

ORIGINAL STORY - The murder trial of Thomas Lee Husk, charged in the shooting death of John Cyrus in 2011, ended Friday in Spencer after four days of testimony.

The jury went into deliberation Friday afternoon after the jury heard the final arguments of prosecutor Shannon Johnson and defense attorney John Oshoway, with Judge David W. Nibert giving directions to the jurors.

The jury recessed Friday and will continue deliberations Monday.

Husk (right) while originally charged with second degree murder, those charges were dropped and re-instated as a murder charge, which means that Husk could be found guilty of first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter or found not guilty.

In closing, prosecutor Johnson told the jurors that the evidence says that Husk intentionally killed Cyrus, and asked for a first degree murder conviction.

Johnson said forensic evidence showed that Husk "shot Cyrus not once, not twice, not three times, but four times."

Defense attorney Oshoway told jurors that Cyrus was intimidating and threatening Husk, who was trying to get away, chasing him into a dead-end road. Cyrus was trying to take Husk's gun and "was a deadly act."

Oshoway said Husk was afraid for his life, and had a right to defend himself, saying that Cyrus was intimidating and bullying Husk.

Calhoun prosecutor Shannon Johnson sought a change of venue after failing to seat a jury three times in Calhoun County.