Jackson Police Investigate Motive in Fatal Shooting
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EAST JACKSON — Jackson police are investigating a Monday night double shooting that left Rodney Pearson, 26, dead and a second man injured. Christina Howard lives just across the street and says she is fed up with the crime. “We don’t need to be typical black people over here running around and doing stuff like this, Howard said. “We need to pull ourselves from our bootstraps and lets get it done.” Around 8:05 p.m., officers were called to the apartment complex at 33 Carver Avenue. Pearson, of Madison County, was found on the ground near the G building. Pearson was transported by ambulance to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and pronounced dead shortly upon arrival. Approximately 10 minutes after the shooting call, a 24-year-old Jackson man was dropped off by private vehicle at the emergency room of a local hospital. The man was admitted for a gunshot wound. As of noon Tuesday, the 24-year-old man remained in the hospital in stable condition. Based on the preliminary investigation, Pearson fired shots at an SUV while it was parked in the apartment complex at 33 Carver Avenue. The SUV and 24-year-old man inside were both struck by bullets. The man then returned gunfire striking Pearson. The 24-year-old man has not been charged. “Under the law anybody who tries to take a life of another, you’re justified if you use force to come back with whatever force is being used against you,” Captain Tyreece Miller said, with the Jackson Police Department. The investigation into the circumstances and motive remain ongoing. “It’s time for us to come together over here and quit fighting each other, quit fighting,” Howard said. “Whatever [is] going on it needs to stop.” Jackson police records show Pearson had been arrested 17 times since 2006, charged with at least 25 counts ranging from aggravated assault to hit and run. Howard believes preventing this kind of violence in the future is possible but neighbors must come together. “They got that snitching I’m not telling type thing but it’s not even about snitching or telling,” Howard said. “It’s about being sure that nobody comes in our neighborhood and does this again. At the conclusion of the investigation, the case will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for review.
