Wednesday, March 28, 2001
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Wednesday, March 28, 2001 |
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Fayette's worst multiple murder Pearson gets life for killing 4 By JOHN MUNFORD
If Donnie Gee had gotten a ride out of town, she and three others might never have been murdered by her sister's live-in boyfriend. In court Monday, Issac Jerry Pearson pled guilty to killing Gee, his girlfriend Barbara Clark and two of their relatives, 16-year-old Nikki Underwood and 3-year-old Doeyanna Burton, three days after Christmas in 1999 the most persons murdered in a single incident in Fayette County's history. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole by Fayette Superior Court Judge Paschal English. Maj. Bruce Jordan, taking the stand in the sentencing phase, said Gee had asked Pearson's niece to give her and the girls a ride to the bus station. But the niece declined, saying she didn't want to get involved, he said. At the murder scene, Pearson said he was upset with Gee, who he felt was trying to have him kicked out of the house. "They were talking about putting me out after all the hard work I've done," Pearson told the chief investigator. Gee had asked a relative for a ride to the bus station so she and the girls could leave because she felt "uncomfortable" being around Pearson and Clark, Jordan said. Clark was shot while she slept, but Pearson woke up Gee, 3-year-old Doeyanna Burton and 16-year-old Nikki Underwood before shooting them, Jordan said. When Dep. Roger Starkey arrived first on the scene at 225 Deer Forest Road, he spotted Pearson in the driveway and asked why his hands were in the air, Jordan said. "Because you're here to arrest me," Pearson replied. The 66-year-old man then confessed to shooting Clark, who he originally referred to as his wife although they were never married, Jordan said. Prosecutors originally planned to seek the death penalty against Pearson. But District Attorney Bill McBroom said Pearson wouldn't likely live long enough to be executed since it can take upwards of 12 years for an execution to occur in death penalty cases.
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