February 12, 2008
Americus -- Four years after an Americus woman's death her accused killer is now behind bars.
The trail of evidence in the murder of 26-year-old Brenda Westbrook's murder had grown cold, until last week.
Police say it was a matter of talking to the right person at the right time. They put word out on the street they wanted to question 38-year-old Jessie Lee Carson, Junior again. After talking with him, they charged him with felony murder and aggravated battery.
It will be four years ago March ninth, that Brenda Westbrook was beaten, raped and strangled in an abandoned house in Americus. Until last week, it was a cold case.
"Especially in a town this size you know a good portion of the people and there's always that nagging need to get it to the table and get it closed," said Americus Police Chief James Green.
What may finally be closure started with old information in Westbrook's case. This time, police talked with the right man at the right time.
"Just a few little things came together last week and the right person was talked to at the right time and it resolved some of the issues and questions and we were able to put it together," said the chief.
What police put together, they needed to talk to 38-year-old Jessie Lee Carson, Junior, ironically the man who found Westbrook and called police.
"He came in, gave a statement to police, and based on that and other information developed in the investigation, they issued an arrest warrant for him,' said Southwest Judicial Circuit District Attorney Cecilia Cooper.
Carson is charged with felony murder and aggravated battery. Now law enforcement officers in Bibb County want to question him about Priscilla Clark's murder. She was found ten days earlier inside an abandoned mobile home in Bibb County. She was nude and had been strangled.
In Westbrook's case Carson's arrest could mean closure. "It will give the victim's family some peace and it should give the citizen's of Americus and Sumter County some peace of mind also," the D. A. said.
For Bibb County's it means more questions. Carson is being held without bond in the Sumter County Jail.
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