A self-professed killer who confessed to three murders after being convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child in 2020 has been sentenced to 261 years in jail, West Tennessee prosecutors mentioned.
Joshua Dotson, 25, pleaded responsible to a few counts of first-degree homicide, for the slayings of Divieon Parker, Renita Bennett and Reginald Anderson, in keeping with Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, who launched a press release Friday after a listening to in Shelby County Circuit Court.
Dotson, a Memphis native on the time of the killings, additionally pleaded responsible to a few counts of felony reckless endangerment with a lethal weapon. A Shelby County decide then sentenced him to 159 years in jail for the three killings, which was added to his sentence from one other conviction.
Renita Bennett and Regiald Anderson have been fatally shot on Might 24, 2020, the U.S. Marshals Workplace for the Western District of Tennessee beforehand reported.
A number of months later, native WREG-TV reported, the Memphis Police Division mentioned officers discovered Parker fatally shot on the South Memphis Market on Nov. 17, 2019. Parker was 18.
On June 12, 2020, Dotson fatally shot his 19-year-old former girlfriend, Jamesha Covson, and her unborn little one at a house in southeast Memphis, native and federal regulation enforcement officers mentioned.
In August 2024, Dotson was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder of their slayings, and in October 2024, a decide sentenced Dotson to 102 years in jail.
“We’re assured that he won’t ever be a menace to our neighborhood once more,” Mulroy mentioned in a press release.
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‘Likening himself to the fictional assassin Michael Myers’
All through his 2024 trial, “Dotson shocked the courtroom by testifying in his own defense, referring to himself as a ‘serial killer’ and likening himself to the fictional assassin Michael Myers.”
“In courtroom, he tried to decrease” Covson’s reminiscence, calling her a “intercourse employee” and “claiming she was conscious of his earlier murders, which he argued was his motive for killing her,” in keeping with prosecutors.
Joshua Dotson sentenced to 261 years for five killings
His sentence Friday will run consecutive to his prior first-degree homicide convictions of Covson and her unborn little one, bringing his whole sentence to 261 years for all 5 killings.
“After 5 years, we’re happy to lastly have justice for Dotson’s a number of victims,” Assistant District Lawyer Regina Lucreziano, who labored on the case, with Chief Prosecutor Lessie Rainey, mentioned in a press release. “Whereas no period of time in jail will carry the victims again to their family members, we’re content material that he won’t ever be a menace to our neighborhood once more.”
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Attain her at nalund@usatoday.com and comply with her on X @nataliealund.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Tennessee man who killed 4 women, unborn baby gets 261 years
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