NORFOLK, Va. — Gary Morton said he first dumped Marie Covington's body in a trash can, and then proceeded to throw her phone in a drain and dispose of the bloody seat covers from the car.
Morton, 44, pleaded guilty to concealing Covington's body but claims her death has always been an accident.
Prosecutors disagree and have asked a Norfolk judge to convict Morton of first-degree murder, abduction, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted malicious wounding, and shooting at an occupied vehicle.
Morton is accused of killing Covington, 40, in August of 2022. Covington's family last saw her on August 17th of that year.
Days later, Virginia State Police issued a Critically Missing Adult Alert -- also known as an "Ashanti Alert" -- for Covington. Police found her shot to death in a trash can a short time later.
Investigators said the victim's daughters first told police Morton had dragged Covington to her car, slapped her, and drove off with Covington still inside.
Morton denies abducting Covington or assaulting her. However, he acknowledged he shot her while driving in Norfolk.
He said it stemmed from a road rage incident near Rush Street, when another driver made a U-turn in front of him. Morton said both he and the driver got out of the car, shot toward each other, and then sped off.
Morton said as he tried to put the gun away in his holster, it went off and killed Covington.
Prosecutors pushed Morton on the stand on this answer, pointing to multiple times he has told different versions to investigators in the past, but Morton maintained the shooting was an accident.
On the stand, Morton said he dumped Covington's body in "a bad neighborhood, where nobody would look for her," and then drove to Pennsylvania.
He said he returned a day later to tell his family what happened but was confronted by a state trooper on the way. This led to a 23-minute high-speed chase throughout Hampton Roads. Prosecutors said speeds reached up to 115 mph.
Once in custody, investigators questioned Morton and asked if he knew anything about Covington's disappearance. He denied knowing who she was and told troopers, "I have nothing to do with the owner of that vehicle.”
Closing arguments are expected on October 12, and a verdict could also be reached then.