John Jefferson
Insets, left to right: Joshua Dotson (Shelby County District Attorney’s Office) and Jamesha Covson (WREG). Background: Authorities outside the home where Dotson killed Covson (WREG).
A convicted murderer and self-proclaimed “serial killer” who once declared in court that he was “Michael Myers” will spend the rest of his days behind bars for killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Carolyn L. Addison on Thursday ordered Joshua Dotson to serve a sentence of 102 years in a Tennessee correctional facility for the 2020 slayings of 19-year-old Jamesha Covson and her unborn child, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
A jury in August found Dotson guilty on two counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings following a three-day trial. Jurors deliberated for just 45 minutes after Dotson took the stand in his own defense and told the court that he was a “serial killer,” Memphis Fox affiliate WHBQ reported.
“I am Michael Myers,” Dotson reportedly exclaimed during testimony in which he also confessed to three additional murders. The comment was an apparent reference to the fictional character of the same name who terrorized teens in the “Halloween” horror movie series.
Addison sentenced Dotson to 51 years for each murder conviction, ordering the sentences to be served consecutively, meaning one after the other.
During the hearing, Addison reportedly referred to Covson’s murder as “one of the saddest situations I’ve seen in my career.”
“You will never show remorse for the loss you’ve brought,” Addison said to Dotson, per WHBQ. “The jury got it right.”
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Memphis Police Department, in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020, Dotson and Covson were at her home in the 1200 block of Quinn Avenue in Memphis when they got into an argument regarding “some post on Facebook and the victim’s pregnancy.” At one point, Covson went into a room and closed the door on Dotson, who responded by firing a bullet through the door.
While the initial bullet did not hit Covson, Dotson forced his way into the room to continue arguing before leaving. Police said he returned a bit later and fired multiple shots into Covson’s closed door, ultimately killing her and the child.
“Several hours later, officers received a call regarding a shooting with one shot to [Covson’s address],” the affidavit states. “The victim, Covson, was found in the house with several gunshot wounds. She was transported to the hospital where she expired from her wounds. The doctors at the hospital advised she was approx. 5 to 6 months pregnant and the baby had also expired from the injuries.”
Multiple witnesses told authorities they saw Dotson with a gun during both shootings and prosecutors called 10 witnesses to the stand during the trial to provide testimony.
According to a news release from the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, just two hours after fatally shooting Covson, Dotson “posted a memorial for Covson on his Facebook page, telling her to “Fly high,” in what authorities believe was a calculated attempt to distance himself form the crime.”
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