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Man charged in 2004 murder of Sumter woman

• The man charged with a four-year-old murder had at least three violent crime convictions before the murder is believed to have happened.

J.D. Sumner

AMERICUS – A man has been charged in connection with a four-year-old murder in Americus, police officials said.

Jessie Lee Carson, Jr., was arrested Friday by Americus Police investigators and charged with murdering Brenda Westbrook in an abandoned home off Matt Hart Drive in March 2004, District Attorney Cecilia Cooper said.

Westbrook was beaten, raped and strangled to death, Cooper said.

According to Cooper, Carson initially told police that he called 911 after finding Westbrook's body.

"Thursday they did an interview with someone that brought Mr. Carson back into the picture," Cooper said. "On Friday, they called him for an interview and based on the statements of that interview and previously collected evidence, he was charged that night with murder."

Cooper called the arrest good news, saying that investigators never gave up pursuing leads and trying to find Westbrook's killer.

"Its very good news, for everybody involved in the case ..." Cooper said. "It's one of things that every few months you stick it in your head, pull out the file and go over again hoping something new jumps out at you."

Carson is being held in the Sumter County Jail without bond, jail officials said.

Carson has a lengthy criminal history, that escalated to more violent crime as he got older, court documents show.

In 1985, Carson was sentenced to serve 12 months for criminal trespass. One year later, Carson was ordered to serve 4 years and seven months for aggravated battery. Two years later, he was again convicted of aggravated battery and was ordered to spend five years in prison.

Carson's last conviction came in 1996, when he was found guilty of aggravated sexual battery and was ordered back to prison and was forced to register as a sex offender.

In April 2002, two years before Westbrook was murdered, carson first registered with authorities in Sumter County. According to the GBI, he last updated his sex offender registration in July 2007.

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