Aeman Presley killed four people in the Atlanta area over about ten weeks in the fall of 2014. Calvin Gholston died in DeKalb County on September 26. Two men, Dorian Jenkins and Tommy Mims, died in Atlanta in Thanksgiving week. Karen Pearce died in Decatur on December 6. Presley was arrested about a week after her death. In June 2016 he pleaded guilty in DeKalb County Superior Court to the murders of Gholston and Pearce, and in January 2017 he pleaded guilty in Fulton County Superior Court to murder in the deaths of Jenkins and Mims. Prosecutors in both counties had sought the death penalty, and the pleas ended that prospect.
Presley was born in Chicago and moved with his mother to Stone Mountain, Georgia, before he started high school. He worked as an actor and spent time in Los Angeles before returning to Atlanta in late 2014. He was a father of two. He was 35 when he pleaded guilty in DeKalb County in June 2016 and 36 by December of that year. Little else about his early life is on record.
His defense lawyers described a history of mental illness. Co-counsel Jerilyn Bell said in 2016 that "mental illness was a part of these crimes" and spoke of his "lifelong struggle with mental illness," and said she believed he was schizophrenic. A formal competency finding is not on record.
Calvin Lewis Gholston was 53. His death on September 26, 2014, was the first of the four. His sister attended the Fulton County hearing in December 2016 and said she wanted a trial and the death penalty.
Dorian Jenkins was 42 and Tommy Mims was 68. Both died in Atlanta in November 2014, in the week of Thanksgiving.
Karen Pearce was 44 and lived in Smyrna. A friend of 16 years told the court that "the world is a smaller place without Karen" and that she believed in the underdog. Her mother gave a victim impact statement at the DeKalb hearing, and indicated she would have preferred a death sentence.
Police released little information for several days after Pearce died. About a week later MARTA police in Atlanta arrested Presley. Authorities said he confessed to the Pearce murder in custody, and according to law enforcement he confessed to all four killings. He was charged with four murders.
Presley was about to stand trial on the two DeKalb killings when a plea agreement was reached with DeKalb prosecutors. On Monday, June 13, 2016, in DeKalb County Superior Court, he pleaded guilty to all charges connected with both deaths. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges in the Pearce case.
The charges in the Gholston case were malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and an offense under the arms law. In the Pearce case they were malice murder, multiple counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, an offense under the arms law and a robbery count.
The DeKalb County District Attorney's office announced two life sentences without the possibility of parole, and said he would be transferred to the Georgia Department of Corrections. The sentence is also given as consecutive life sentences plus 10 years. District Attorney Robert James said Presley "deserves to go to prison for the rest of his life" and called his actions "monstrous and had severe consequences on the lives of several individuals." He also said the death penalty "as an option is not something I'm crazy about."
In court Presley said, "I am not a serial killer," and described himself as "a brother that had some really serious issues and problems." He called the crimes "ungodly, unrighteous, dishonorable and plain wrong" and said to the families, "My apologies to you all."
In Fulton County, Presley was charged with six murder counts and 13 other felonies in the deaths of Jenkins and Mims. District Attorney Paul Howard had said he would seek the death penalty.
On Monday, December 19, 2016, Presley was due before Judge John Goger in Fulton County Superior Court to plead guilty but mentally ill to two murders. He asked instead whether a jury could find him not guilty by reason of insanity. Told that it could, he asked for more time to talk with his attorneys, and the judge continued the case for a month. In the courtroom the sister of Calvin Gholston said she did not want to see him plead and wanted a trial and the death penalty. Deputy District Attorney Peter Johnson referred to letters Presley had sent the office over two years, in which he said his lawyers wanted him to plead for life without parole but that he was not in favor. Prosecutors said they would keep the offer open for 30 days and otherwise take the case to trial and seek the death penalty. If he were acquitted in Fulton County, he would still face the DeKalb sentences.
On Friday, January 20, 2017, Presley pleaded guilty in Fulton County Superior Court to murder in the deaths of Jenkins and Mims. The plea carried a life sentence; whether it is without the possibility of parole is not on record, and the exact counts of conviction are not on record. He was already serving the two DeKalb sentences, and the plea meant he would not face the death penalty. In court he continued to say that he believed he should have been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
After the pleas Presley was to serve his sentences in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections. His present place of custody is not on record.
Proven by his guilty pleas, and final: the murders of Gholston and Pearce (DeKalb County Superior Court, June 13, 2016) and of Jenkins and Mims (Fulton County Superior Court, January 20, 2017). No other killings are on record as attributed to him. The DeKalb sentence is given as two life sentences without parole and also as consecutive life sentences plus 10 years. The Fulton sentence is given as "a life sentence." A formal competency finding is not on record; his insanity question in December 2016 was not tried.
September 26, 2014: Calvin Gholston dies in DeKalb County.
November 2014 (Thanksgiving week): Dorian Jenkins and Tommy Mims die in Atlanta.
December 6, 2014: Karen Pearce dies in Decatur.
December 2014: Presley is arrested about a week later by MARTA police.
June 13, 2016: Pleads guilty in DeKalb County Superior Court to two murders; sentenced to life without parole on each.
December 19, 2016: Fulton County plea hearing continued for a month after he asks about an insanity verdict.
January 20, 2017: Pleads guilty in Fulton County Superior Court to murder in two deaths; sentenced to life.