Family member charged in Lester Street mass murder

By Trevor Aaronson

Originally published 12:04 p.m., March 8, 2008
Updated 12:33 p.m., March 8, 2008

Jessie Dotson was charged at 7 p.m. Friday in the Lester Street mass murder, police confirmed.

A press conference will be held at 3 p.m. to announce his arrest in the case that left four adults and two children dead and three kids wounded.

Police believe the killings occurred between Saturday night and Monday night, at 722 Lester, just north of Summer in north Binghamton. Cecil Dewayne Dotson, 30; Marissa Rene Williams, 27; Hollis Seals, 33; and Shindri Roberson, 22, were the adults murdered.

None of the underage murder victims has been officially identified, and the three surviving children are in protective custody at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center.

Dotson, who is Cecil Dewayne Dotson’s brother, spent 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in 1994. He was released from prison on Jan. 26, five weeks before police discovered the gruesome mass murder on Lester Street.

Jessie Dotson’s conflict with his brother started soon after the man’s release from prison, records show. In January, Cecil Dotson called police to his house on Lester, claiming that his brother Jessie had robbed and threatened him.

Cecil Dotson said he and his brother and several other men were playing cards when Jessie stood up, put on Cecil’s leather coat and started to walk out.

When Cecil objected, Jessie pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and challenged his brother to take the coat back from him, Cecil told police.

Cecil then followed his brother in his car to the Goodwill Village Apartments in North Memphis but lost him. Jessie was not charged in the robbery.

-- Trevor Aaronson

Memphis police spin wheels in probe of slayings of 6; 3 children still hospitalized
By WOODY BAIRD
Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
updated 9:38 p.m. CT, Tues., March. 4, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Near the auto salvage yards, a chorus of howling dogs and the Pleasure Inn _ a cinderblock hotel surrounded by a privacy fence _ a small brick house on a dead-end street stood cordoned off with police tape Tuesday.

Police found six bodies and three seriously wounded children there the night before. Most were shot; at least one child was stabbed.

Police don't know how long the survivors _ between the ages of about 1 and 12 _ had to wait for help to arrive. It may have been two days.

In this rough-edged community called Binghampton, there was shock and anger over the attack, but no one who immediately came forward with information.

"We know there are people out there who have heard things, seen things, known things" that might help "put together pieces of the puzzle on what occurred in that home," said Lt. Joe Scott, a homicide detective.

Police went door to door looking for clues Tuesday but conceded they had virtually nothing to go on in the killings of two men, two women and two boys. Investigators said they believed the attacker or attackers were not among the dead.

"We're working with a blank sheet of paper," police spokeswoman Monique Martin said.

The surviving children were hospitalized, two in very critical condition and the other in serious, according to police. Their families asked that no details of their conditions be released, and it wasn't clear when or if they might be able to help investigators.

It was not immediately clear how the killings could have gone unnoticed _ police said five of the six victims were shot _ though the neighborhood does experience some drug- and gang-related violence. Early Tuesday, as police investigated the six slayings, two men were shot and wounded in an unrelated home invasion about a mile away.

Low-income houses and apartments sit near cheap motels and junkyards in Binghamton. The nearest major intersection has automobile salvage yards on all four corners, surrounded by chain-linked fences and razor wire.

The weekend attack appeared to be the worst single shooting in Memphis in decades. In May 1973, a man with a history of mental illness randomly shot and killed five people, including a police officer, before he was killed by police.

More recently, a firefighter killed four people in 2000, including two other firefighters and a sheriff's deputy.

Even in a city accustomed to violence _ last fall, the FBI ranked Memphis eighth in the country for reports of serious crimes per capita, though local law enforcement questioned the FBI's methodology _ the killings stunned the neighborhood. About 30 residents gathered for a prayer service Tuesday morning at the First Baptist Church, where Pastor Keith Norman said the grandfather of one of the victims was a member.

"This is a breach in our community, and we as a church are the repairers of that breach," church member Cheri Wells said. "I feel a sense of vulnerability. I feel pain and hurt. I feel we have been robbed. Our peace has been snatched from us."

About 200 people, including some identified by Norman as relatives of the victims, attended an evening prayer service. But none would talk with reporters.

Wayne Bolden, who lives across the street, said the family kept to themselves but the apparent man of the house occasionally fired gunshots in the yard.

"He'd shoot on the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve," Bolden said. "He'd have company over and I'd hear the shots."

None of the victims had been identified.

Rob Robinson, who owns the home, said the man who rented it lived there with his girlfriend and at least three children. Robinson estimated the man and woman to be in their late 20s.

"I would categorize them as good tenants. They kept the property and they called me when there were problems. They paid their rent on time. They were always very courteous and polite."

Robinson said the man had problems with a former girlfriend. "When I was over there, there were a lot of heated conversations over the phone," he said.

But he said he saw nothing to suggest the level of violence that took place.

"Not that this would ever be expected," he said, "but there wasn't a history there I had experienced that indicated this kind of activity or crazy things going on."

___

Sibling argument led to Lester Street mass murder, police say

By Trevor Aaronson, Kristina Goetz

Originally published 12:04 p.m., March 8, 2008
Updated 10:21 p.m., March 8, 2008

In a mass murder so gruesome it garnered international attention and caused police to consider gang conflict, a child witness led investigators to a family member who confessed to the brutal killings.

Jessie Dotson, 33, was charged Saturday with six counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said he would announce in the coming days whether his office will seek the death penalty.

During an argument with his brother at 722 Lester, Jessie Dotson pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shot Cecil Dewayne Dotson, police allege. He then slaughtered the others in the house, including children, in an attempt to cover up the shooting.

Cecil Dotson, 30; Marissa Rene Williams, 27; Hollis Seals, 33; and Shindri Roberson, 22, were shot and killed.

Jessie Dotson also stabbed and killed two of his nephews, Cemario Dotson, 4, and Cecil Dotson II, 2, both sons of Cecil, police say.

"It is our belief that when Jessie left the home, he believed everyone in the home was dead," Police Director Larry Godwin said during a Saturday press conference. "But as we all know, by the grace of God, three children survived."

Cecil Dotson Jr., about 9; Cedric Dotson, about 6; and Ceniyah Dotson, about 2 months old, survived being attacked with a knife and are in treatment under protective custody at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center.

One of the surviving children told police Jessie Dotson was responsible for the killings, according to an affidavit filed Saturday. Dotson then confessed to the mass murder.

For Dotson, the gruesome killings on Lester Street made for an end to what was at times a hostile relationship with his family, arrest records show. His teenage home at 600 S. Lauderdale was a volatile place, where he regularly fought with neighbors and siblings.

In 1990, at age 15, Dotson was charged with disorderly conduct for making threats against his mother as she tried to discipline him. A month later, he was charged with assault after a 13-year-old told his parents Dotson punched him in the face and threatened to "put him in the hospital" if the teen didn't bring him $25 the next day.

One year later, in fall 1991, police arrested Dotson for disorderly conduct after his mother told police he came home and wanted to fight his brother. "After placing her son in bedroom, locking the door, (Dotson) broke door open and punched several large holes in wall," the arrest report stated. "(Dotson) then placed his finger in mother's face, telling her he was going to kill her. When officers arrived, (Dotson) was loud and angry, refusing to calm down and still wanting to fight brother."

Police charged Dotson again in 1992 with disorderly conduct following an incident in which Dotson cussed at a neighbor during an argument and then threw two beer bottles into her apartment.

On Dec. 13, 1991, six days before his 17th birthday, police pulled over a car Dotson was riding in, arrest records show. On the floorboards, an officer saw a .20-gauge sawed-off shotgun and a .38-caliber pistol.

A little more than two years later and one year into adulthood, the 19-year-old Dotson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in an apparent drug deal gone bad.

On Jan. 8, 1994, after purchasing drugs from Dotson, Halle Cox discovered he had in fact bought shavings of soap. The two men argued, and during the conflict, Dotson killed the man.

Four months later, on May 5, 1994, police arrested Dotson for the murder. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, second-degree murder, and spent nearly 14 years in state prison.

He was released Jan. 26 and rekindled his relationship with brother Cecil, who worked as a maintenance man at an apartment building and rented the Lester Street house just north of Summer Avenue in Binghamton.

But as in his youth, Jessie's relationship with his brother came with conflict.

On Jan. 29, three days after the man's release from state prison, Jessie, Cecil and several other men were playing cards at Cecil's home. After the card game, Jessie stood up, put on Cecil's leather jacket and began to walk out of the house. As Cecil tried to stop him, Jessie drew a semi-automatic pistol and challenged his brother to take the coat back from him, Cecil would later tell police.

Cecil then followed his brother in his car to the Goodwill Village Apartments in North Memphis but eventually lost him. Although Cecil reported to police that his brother robbed and threatened him, Jessie was not charged with a crime.

Whether the stolen jacket remained an issue between Cecil and Jessie is unknown. But last Sunday, Jessie returned to Cecil's home at 722 Lester, police say.

An argument followed.

It ended in a bloodbath.

Although Jessie is now in police custody, the investigation continues and the victims' family members remain in protective custody, said Godwin.

When asked if he was certain that Dotson acted alone in the killings, the police director offered an ambiguous answer.

"We are very confident in where we are, but again, we will continue the investigation," he said.

Erica Smith, the mother of one of Cecil's children, said Dotson's arrest for the mass murder hasn't brought her relief.

"I'll never be relieved," she said. "I've never got my son no more."

Cheryl Green, the sister of victim Shindri Roberson, said she was surprised to learn Dotson confessed the killings.

"It's just a shock someone could do that to their own flesh and blood," she said. "The little babies."