South MS man headed to prison for murder after ‘senseless’ killing of co-worker

A man who drunkenly shot and killed a co-worker three years ago in Jackson County will spend life in prison after a jury convicted him Thursday of first-degree murder.

After a three-day trial, the jury convicted Thomas Phillip Pearson II, 39, of Vancleave, of killing Jeffery Summerlin Jr. in April 2021, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.

Jackson County deputies responded one night that month to a ranch at 13116 Old Fort Bayou Road and found Summerlin motionless with a gunshot wound to his face, the news release said. Summerlin was 33.

Deputies took Pearson into custody and he claimed self-defense, according to the news release. But eyewitnesses said the two men worked together and had been fighting over missing property. Pearson was drunk, agitated and had two handguns, the news release said.

Witnesses heard Pearson say he “had enough of this” and Summerlin say “don’t do it, Thomas” before the shooting, according to the release.

Summerlin died at the scene.

At trial, Pearson said he fired because he feared Summerlin would hurt him, the news release said. The jury rejected his argument, and District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath called the shooting “a senseless act of violence.”

“Jeffery Summerlin, Jr. lost his life for no other reason than the defendant being drunk, angry and eager to use a gun to settle a verbal dispute,” McIlrath said in a statement. “Our citizens serving on the jury saw through the defendant’s lies and attempts to avoid accountability.”

Assistant District Attorney Justin Lovorn and Assistant District Attorney Bill Barrett prosecuted the case.

Lovorn called the case a typical example of “victim-blaming.”

“A drunk Thomas Pearson murdered Jeff over a simple verbal argument,” he said. “He crafted a false narrative in an attempt to avoid responsibility for his actions.”