Wednesday, March 5, 2003
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Wednesday, March 5, 2003 |
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'She knew too much' 'Hotshot' said to have worn pistol before 4 murders By JOHN MUNFORD
Roy Evans has vivid memories of the man accused of killing his mother, Liddie, over 25 years ago. Carl Millard Patton Jr. was known as "Hotshot" back then, and Roy Evans was just 16 years old. Patton, who was close friends with Liddie Evans' boyfriend, wore a gun in a holster at his side at all times, Roy Evans recalled. "He wore it like he was an outlaw or something," said Roy Evans, who's now 42. "He used to have a gun on him all the time." Roy Evans also has a theory for why his mother was killed. "Hotshot" Patton was a part of the so-called "Dixie Mafia," Roy noted. Days before she was killed, Liddie Evans was preparing to move back to Alabama from her Jonesboro apartment, he said. "She knew too much and that's why he killed her," he said. "... He killed her boyfriend the same way. They knew too much, so he got rid of them." Authorities believe Liddie Evans and her boyfriend, Joe Cleveland, were killed at Patton's former residence in DeKalb County. Her body was found Dec. 20, 1977, in the Flint River after another alleged murder victim was found floating in the water by a duck hunter. Evans had been shot in the head, and her leg was chained to a concrete block when it was discovered in the water by search crews 25 years ago. Roy Evans' sister Sylvia was just six years old when her mother died. Unlike her brother, she doesn't recall Patton much and she isn't quite as sure why her mother was killed. But she never questioned anyone who told her "Hotshot" killed her mother. She heard the allegation repeated many times between the day her mother's body was found up until Patton was arrested a second time for Liddie Evans's murder two weeks ago. He was originally arrested days after Evans's body was found, but he was later released after there wasn't enough evidence to keep him the first time. "I've spent my whole life wondering why this happened," Sylvia Evans said. "Maybe now we'll be able to find out why. ... It's just the way she was killed. Why did it have to be so violent? If he thought he had to do it, and we don't know what went through his mind just the pain she had to go through and the fear she had." Roy Evans, who was one of four children and lived with his father at the time of Liddie Evans' death, never saw Patton threaten anyone with the gun. But Roy said he knew Patton was "into drugs and all kind of stuff." Although Patton didn't scare Roy before his mother's death, he has haunted Roy's dreams ever since. Liddie L. Evans' body was found five days before Christmas and a few days before Roy's 17th birthday. A missing persons report on Evans and Cleveland had been filed five days before her body was found. As Roy Evans and his three sisters grew up without their mother, he was occasionally reminded of the void it left in his life. Now his kids are all grown, but becoming a father made him miss his own mother even more, for he wishes his children could know the grandmother they'll never get to meet. "They know what happened," Roy Evans said. "That's a bad feeling that my kids are never going to see their grandmother." Were Liddie L. Evans still alive today, she could enjoy the company of her grandchildren and a great-grandbaby, Roy Evans said. Although Patton could possibly face the death penalty if convicted of murdering Mrs. Evans, Roy would rather he have life in prison. A death sentence, he said, "would be the easy way out." "You can't bring Momma back, but she'll rest a lot better knowing he's behind bars for what he did." "Him going to jail would be a long time coming," Sylvia Evans said. "It's something we've dreamed about all our lives."
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