Wednesday, March 19, 2003
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Wednesday, March 19, 2003 |
Man gets life for murder of woman found in Flint River 25 years agoBy JOHN
MUNFORD
Carl Millard Patton Jr. pled guilty Friday to killing a Jonesboro woman whose body turned up on the Fayette side of the Flint River over 25 years ago. The plea was accepted in DeKalb County Superior Court, since that's where Liddie Evans and her boyfriend Joe Cleveland were shot and killed at Patton's residence. Patton was sentenced to two life prison terms, which are added to the two life sentences he got the week before in Clayton County for two related murders. Roy Evans wishes he could have a little more justice for his mother. He's upset that Patton's wife, Norma, won't ever face charges for his mother's killing. "They said she planned it and participated in it," Roy Evans said Friday afternoon. Norma Patton was given immunity from murder charges by prosecutors in exchange for testimony against her husband. Mrs. Patton said her husband shot and killed Evans and Cleveland because he was worried that Cleveland had told his girlfriend about two murders Cleveland had helped Patton commit in Clayton County. The Pattons were originally arrested for the killings days after Evans's body was discovered in the Flint River. They were later set free after a test on blood in the trunk of a car owned by the Pattons didn't match up with any of the victims' blood. Evans said he and his family have been haunted over the years by memories of Carl Patton Jr., who was also known as "Hotshot." Evans recalled that Patton always wore a pistol in a holster on his belt.
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