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NEWS

Man charged in shooting death pleads not guilty

Matthew Kent
Reporter

CHILLICOTHE – A Roxabel man charged in the shooting death of Timberly Claytor entered a plea of not guilty Monday and remains jailed on $850,000 bond.

Jason McCrary, 37, was arraigned after a grand jury indicted him last week on one count of murder, with gun and repeat violent offender specifications. Investigators previously said Claytor died May 29 from three gunshot wounds to the head.

A judge set McCrary’s bond at $750,000 during Monday’s arraignment on top of an $100,000 bond he was already being held on. He has been ordered to have no contact with the Claytor family.

His next court proceeding will be a pre-trial at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24.

The indictment against McCrary also carries two specifications: one, that he used a gun to commit the murder, and two, that he is a repeat violent offender because he has a 2004 aggravated robbery conviction. The gun specification could add three mandatory years to any sentence in the murder case, and the repeat violent offender specification could anywhere from one to 11 additional years, at the judge's discretion.

If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison on the murder charge. Prosecutors say they didn’t pursue an aggravated murder charge because they could not show prior planning of Claytor’s death.

McCrary, a convicted sex offender since 2005, has been in jail since May 30, when he was arrested on failing to register a change of address.