That makes me so mad I wish Evans could kill him again.
I'd like to think that he would have been cut some slack, but I think you're probably right.
Still, I share Evan's regret that he was only able to rehabilitate one of the punks.
8-10 Front Page of the Memphis Newspaper
- Thread starter Golden Saber
- Start date
- Status
Still, I share Evan's regret that he was only able to rehabilitate one of the punks.
Sportcat
Member
Good job sir!
I hope Mr. Evans is prepared for payback from the thugs' family and friends!
I hope Mr. Evans is prepared for payback from the thugs' family and friends!
Seminole
Member
Thanks for being willing to contribute, kngflp. After two phone calls to Mr. Evans' number, he hasn't called me back yet. I can imagine that he may be getting quite a few calls, so I guess it's not unusual that he hasn't got back with me yet. If I haven't heard from him in the next couple of days, I may try to swing by his house and see if he is still there or if he is staying with family for now. As someone has already suggested, he may fear retribution from the young punk's friends or family.
Golden Saber has already suggested that we get Guns and Ammo involved (for non-Memphians, that's the name of a local gunstore, not a reference to the tools at hand!). I think its a good idea, and we can get in contact with them after I've heard from Mr. Evans. I've also contacted Range USA about helping us get Mr. Evans some training so he can get his carry permit.
Thanks again for your willingness to help. I'll let everybody know as soon as I'm able to get in touch with Mr. Evans.
Golden Saber has already suggested that we get Guns and Ammo involved (for non-Memphians, that's the name of a local gunstore, not a reference to the tools at hand!). I think its a good idea, and we can get in contact with them after I've heard from Mr. Evans. I've also contacted Range USA about helping us get Mr. Evans some training so he can get his carry permit.
Thanks again for your willingness to help. I'll let everybody know as soon as I'm able to get in touch with Mr. Evans.
Father Knows Best
Member
He's been arrested
Don't bother going by his house. I saw on the news this morning that he is behind bars. Apparently, he is a convicted felon. He was convicted of first degree murder in 1970 for killing his mother-in-law, and spent 25 years in prison. As a convicted felon, of course, he isn't permitted to possess a firearm. So ... he's been arrested on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and will likely go back to prison.
Don't bother going by his house. I saw on the news this morning that he is behind bars. Apparently, he is a convicted felon. He was convicted of first degree murder in 1970 for killing his mother-in-law, and spent 25 years in prison. As a convicted felon, of course, he isn't permitted to possess a firearm. So ... he's been arrested on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and will likely go back to prison.
Sportcat
Member
Well, this incident has now caused three people to longer be part of society.
NineseveN
member
Seminole
Member
Yep. I saw the news in the paper this morning. Technically, he can't be charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, since he used it in justifiable self-defense. Instead, they got him for violating his parole, which he was apparently serving after having been released on parole in 1994 after serving about 24 years for a first-degree murder conviction.
This explains why I haven't been able to get in touch with him--he was at 201 Poplar (the county jail). It's just as well, since we couldn't have helped anyway, given the circumstances. Thanks anyway to all who were willing to help.
This explains why I haven't been able to get in touch with him--he was at 201 Poplar (the county jail). It's just as well, since we couldn't have helped anyway, given the circumstances. Thanks anyway to all who were willing to help.
The_Antibubba
Member
Weird how these things work sometimes.
Baby Oil? Guess those bullets were "soft nose"!
Baby Oil? Guess those bullets were "soft nose"!
Evans could get year in jail
Shooting justifiable, but not possessing pistol in the first place
The gun that saved his life also may be sending Jacob Evans back to prison for a year.
A hearing officer recommended Friday that Evans be returned to prison for violating his parole by possessing a handgun, despite Evans's insistence that the gun saved his life.
Evans, who was on parole for a 1969 murder, shot and killed a would-be robber this month with a .357 Magnum he said he bought after being victimized by criminals. The shooting was ruled justifiable.
"I've been robbed, robbed and robbed and my home's been broken into two times," Evans said in the 20-minute hearing in a small visitation room in the Shelby County Jail. "I'm here to tell you, if I have to do time for saving my life I'm just going to have to be man enough to do it. The gun saved me, and it is the reason I'm here talking to you today."
John Greer, a hearing officer with the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole, said possessing a deadly weapon violated a condition of his parole. He said he also considered Evans's three prior revocations of his parole for drugs or weapons offenses. He has maintained a good parole record for the past nine years.
Greer said he would recommend to the board that Evans's parole be revoked and that he be returned to prison until August 2006, when parole again would be considered.
Two members of the seven-member parole board must agree with the recommendation for the decision to be final. A decision is expected within two weeks.
Evans will remain in jail until then, and if the recommendation is adopted he would be transferred to a prison in the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Evans, 59, was paroled in 1980 on his life sentence for the first-degree murder in 1969 of his mother-in-law, Ollie Lee Derdun, 54, in the 900 block of Texas. Evans, who pleaded guilty, told police he was trying to kill another man when he fired his shotgun.
The victim's 15-year-old daughter, Patricia Steverson, who was wounded in the shooting, showed up at the jail Friday morning to testify against Evans, but the parole hearing had ended about 10 minutes earlier.
Steverson, who is confined to a wheelchair because of the shooting, said she thinks her mother's death was no accident.
"He wasn't no good back then," said Steverson, now 51, "and he ain't no good person now."
Evans was sentenced to life in prison in September 1969, but under pre-1982 laws he was eligible for parole after serving less than 13 years with good-behavior credits.
Evans said in the hearing that he had made mistakes in his past, but that years ago he decided to stay out of trouble by avoiding nightclubs, working every day and paying his bills.
"I'd rather be here talking to you all than being 6 feet in my grave," Evans told reporters after the hearing. "A year is not too long, I'll make it."
Shooting justifiable, but not possessing pistol in the first place
The gun that saved his life also may be sending Jacob Evans back to prison for a year.
A hearing officer recommended Friday that Evans be returned to prison for violating his parole by possessing a handgun, despite Evans's insistence that the gun saved his life.
Evans, who was on parole for a 1969 murder, shot and killed a would-be robber this month with a .357 Magnum he said he bought after being victimized by criminals. The shooting was ruled justifiable.
"I've been robbed, robbed and robbed and my home's been broken into two times," Evans said in the 20-minute hearing in a small visitation room in the Shelby County Jail. "I'm here to tell you, if I have to do time for saving my life I'm just going to have to be man enough to do it. The gun saved me, and it is the reason I'm here talking to you today."
John Greer, a hearing officer with the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole, said possessing a deadly weapon violated a condition of his parole. He said he also considered Evans's three prior revocations of his parole for drugs or weapons offenses. He has maintained a good parole record for the past nine years.
Greer said he would recommend to the board that Evans's parole be revoked and that he be returned to prison until August 2006, when parole again would be considered.
Two members of the seven-member parole board must agree with the recommendation for the decision to be final. A decision is expected within two weeks.
Evans will remain in jail until then, and if the recommendation is adopted he would be transferred to a prison in the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Evans, 59, was paroled in 1980 on his life sentence for the first-degree murder in 1969 of his mother-in-law, Ollie Lee Derdun, 54, in the 900 block of Texas. Evans, who pleaded guilty, told police he was trying to kill another man when he fired his shotgun.
The victim's 15-year-old daughter, Patricia Steverson, who was wounded in the shooting, showed up at the jail Friday morning to testify against Evans, but the parole hearing had ended about 10 minutes earlier.
Steverson, who is confined to a wheelchair because of the shooting, said she thinks her mother's death was no accident.
"He wasn't no good back then," said Steverson, now 51, "and he ain't no good person now."
Evans was sentenced to life in prison in September 1969, but under pre-1982 laws he was eligible for parole after serving less than 13 years with good-behavior credits.
Evans said in the hearing that he had made mistakes in his past, but that years ago he decided to stay out of trouble by avoiding nightclubs, working every day and paying his bills.
"I'd rather be here talking to you all than being 6 feet in my grave," Evans told reporters after the hearing. "A year is not too long, I'll make it."
In the Commercial Appeal coverage on 8/25 they headlined their coverage with "Vigilante jailed; parole violation; Jacob Evans has 1969 conviction for murder. They ran my letter to the editor today.
I was disappointed to see your use of the term "vigilante" in your Aug. 25 article about the arrest of of Jacob Evans ("Vigilante jailed; parole violation; Jacob Evans has 1969 conviction for murder").
Vigilante is defined as "one who takes or advocates the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands," and it has negative connotations. Evans did not take the law into his own hands; our system of law is not designed to protect each individual citizen from violent crime. Our system of law is designed to punish, rehabilitate and deter criminals.
Evans was placed in a hard situation in which he needed a gun to defend himself, but he did not go out and hunt down criminals to punish. If I remember the accounts in this newspaper correctly, he was abducted from his own front yard by a pair of armed assailants. I fail to see the connection between being abducted from your front yard and forced to defend yourself in a life-threatening situation and vigilantism, but I'm not a newspaper editor looking for a buzzword.
Evans paid his debt to society for his previous problems, and seems to be a productive citizen now. He should not spend any more time behind bars simply because he refused to be a victim.
Heath Reynolds
Collierville
I was disappointed to see your use of the term "vigilante" in your Aug. 25 article about the arrest of of Jacob Evans ("Vigilante jailed; parole violation; Jacob Evans has 1969 conviction for murder").
Vigilante is defined as "one who takes or advocates the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands," and it has negative connotations. Evans did not take the law into his own hands; our system of law is not designed to protect each individual citizen from violent crime. Our system of law is designed to punish, rehabilitate and deter criminals.
Evans was placed in a hard situation in which he needed a gun to defend himself, but he did not go out and hunt down criminals to punish. If I remember the accounts in this newspaper correctly, he was abducted from his own front yard by a pair of armed assailants. I fail to see the connection between being abducted from your front yard and forced to defend yourself in a life-threatening situation and vigilantism, but I'm not a newspaper editor looking for a buzzword.
Evans paid his debt to society for his previous problems, and seems to be a productive citizen now. He should not spend any more time behind bars simply because he refused to be a victim.
Heath Reynolds
Collierville
Sportcat
Member
Good letter!
The_Antibubba
Member
I won't condone his previous crimes, but this case seems like the actualization if the sig line, "Better to be tried by twelve, than to carried by six".
If they send him to prison, I wish him easy time.
If they send him to prison, I wish him easy time.
mics357
Member
dang, this tale has more turns than a snake with back trouble. still all things being equal, i wish him well, he was forced to make a hard choice, and chose correctly. I don't like the idea of him being around at this time. since he was convicted of murder, he probably should not have been out to be on the recieving end of violent crime. but since they let him out, he seems to have kept himself out of trouble and should have been able to continue his life unaccosted. like the rest of us.
- Status
