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Grim discovery: Traffic stop leads to body in van

Taylorsville man also was charged in son’s death last year

Robert C. Reed | File art

The driver in a single-vehicle accident, Jerry Wayne Damron, was taken into custody for DWI by law enforcement at the scene of a fatality on Morris Creek Road in Caldwell County in this Sept. 26 photo. Damron and his wife, Lisa Church Damron, of Taylorsville, were pulled over for speeding and driving under the influence in Wythe County, Va., on Thursday. Upon inspection of the vehicle, officers found a body in the back of the van.

BY CLAIRE GALOFARO

Media General News Service

Published: July 10, 2009

WYTHE COUNTY, Va. - When a Wythe County sheriff's deputy pulled over a speeding van on Interstate 77 early Thursday, the evidence against a North Carolina husband and wife quickly escalated from speeding to driving under the influence to a dead body behind the backseat.

Deputies found the body of an unidentified woman stuffed behind the back seat of the 2002 Ford Astro van that Lisa Church Damron, 31, and Jerry Wayne Damron, 42, both of Taylorsville, N.C., were traveling in.

The woman had been shot multiple times and was wrapped in a blanket.

Officers also found three pistols in the van.

Wythe County Sheriff Douglas King said the unidentified woman likely was killed in Taylorsville, N.C., and his office is working with the Taylorsville Police Department on the investigation. King said he expected Taylorsville police to charge the couple in relation to the woman's death by Thursday evening.

"They were in Wythe County no more than five minutes," King said Thursday. "They came to the wrong place. You're drunk, speeding and you've got a dead body in the back of your van. That's certainly not rocket science."

Lisa Church Damron, the driver, is facing charges of felony transporting a dead body with malicious intent to prevent detection of an unlawful act, DUI and reckless driving, King said. Jerry Wayne Damron is charged with felony transporting a dead body with malicious intent to prevent detection of an unlawful act, possession of a firearm after conviction of a felony, three charges of having a concealed weapon, and a count of felony assault on a police officer that occurred while he was being put into lock up.

Wythe County deputies stopped the van, which had North Carolina tags, about 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the 33 mile marker of Interstate 77.

Authorities said the van was traveling 85 mph in a 65 mph zone. Deputies said they noticed an odor of alcohol coming from the woman driving the van, and the passenger also appeared to be under the influence. Both were arrested, and as deputies prepared the vehicle to be towed just after 9 a.m., they found the body and the guns.

Jerry Wayne Damron faced criminal charges in October after his 8-year-old son died and four other children were critically injured in a single-car wreck in the Dudley Shoals area of Caldwell County. Six children between the ages of 2 and 10, and Damron's wife, were in the car when it spun out of control and plowed into a tree.

A clerk at the Catawba County, N.C., courthouse said Damron was charged with felony death by vehicle, DWI and reckless driving.

The body discovered Thursday was taken to Roanoke for an autopsy.

The Damrons are being held at the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin.

Claire Galofaro is a staff writer with the Bristol Herald Courier.