Tree Planted To Honor Crime Victims

Apr 22, 2015 at 04:28 pm by bryan


With brisk winds and a 70-degree temperature, members of the law enforcement and judicial community met at 2:00 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office to plant a tree in honor of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. This was just one of ten trees planted across the state to honor and remember crime victims.

General William Whitesell Honored

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Retired Rutherford County District Attorney General William Whitesell received the VOICE FOR VICTIMS AWARD in recognition of more than two decades of work on behalf of crime victims in the 16th Judicial District.

Whitesell commented to the Dillard family about not being allowed to have a photo of murder victim Carla Dillard-Pearman for the jury to see . . .

(46-seconds)

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Derrick Schofield commented, "This year's theme for National Crime Victims' Rights Week is Empowering Victims - Engaging Communities. It is a reminder that providing services to crime victims helps them heal, and makes our communities safer."

The Carla Pearman Story

WGNS' Bart Walker, who served as emcee for the event, told how an evening of arguing erupted in a deadly scuffle in the early hours of Valentine, 2013. Carla Dillard-Pearman (pair-man) was found murdered in her Murfreesboro home. That same day, her husband Jacob was charged with first degree murder and taken into custody.

Jesse Branscum, a close family friend of Carla, shared his emotion filled memories of the day he learned of the murder. He is a probation parole manager, and was on duty when he received word of his friend being murdered. You felt as if you were in the car with him, as he told about pulling to the side of the road, and how he lost track of time as thoughts rushed through his head: perhaps it's not true, what will happen to her son, and this is too horrible to believe.

Almost two-years after her murder, the two-week trial against Jacob Pearman began. And after a day of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous verdict against him. Jacob Pearman was sentenced to life in prison on the first degree murder charge. He also received a three-year sentence for child abuse and a five-year sentence for aggravated assault, to run consecutive to each other and concurrent with the life sentence.

Parole Board Chairman Richard Montgomery said, "The annual tree planting events are a reminder that crime victims and family members play a key role in the criminal justice process." He concluded with, "Trees represent crime victims; they are strong and resilient--they bend, but rarely break."

TRICOR (Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction) Chief Executive Officer Patricia Weiland provides markers for each tree. "As people pass these trees, it's important that they know why they were planted and who they honor."

Complete Recording of the program (20-minutes)

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