Left: Desean Maddox (Mecklenburg County Jail). Right: Jameisha Wilkes (Crawford Funeral Home).
A 33-year-old North Carolina man will serve decades behind bars for murdering a pregnant woman outside her home where she lived with her 7-year-old daughter, who is nonverbal and has autism, authorities say.
Desean Maddox pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder, murder of an unborn child and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the slaying of Jameisha Wilkes. He agreed to a sentence of 25 to 31 years behind bars, court records say.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call on Nov. 13 at a home in the 5400 block of Strive Street. When they arrived, they found Wilkes outside with a gunshot wound. Paramedics pronounced her dead.
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As police investigated, one of Maddox”s family members identified him as the shooter. The family member told detectives Maddox sent her a message earlier that day to say he had “been unfaithful and gotten another woman pregnant.” That woman, he said, was Wilkes.
According to local ABC affiliate WSOC, Wilkes was unaware that Maddox was married. He reportedly wanted Wilkes to have an abortion.
On the day of the deadly shooting, Maddox had come to Wilkes’ door and asked her to come outside before he shot her.
“Desean admitted to the family member that he shot [Wilkes] and took her cellphone from her and destroyed it by driving over it,” a criminal complaint said.
Wilkes’ family told WSOCÂ that she was a mother to a nonverbal daughter with autism who was inside the home at the time of the shooting.
The girl does not understand why “mommy went outside and never came back in,” Wilkes’ mother told WSOC.
According to her obituary, Wilkes was a “radiant soul whose love for life was evident in everything she did.”
“Jameisha found happiness in the simple yet meaningful things in life. She loved working on puzzles, listening to all genres of music, and surrounding herself with bright, vibrant colors that matched her warm and lively spirit,” the obituary said. “Above all, she adored her daughter, Serenity, whom she cherished deeply and loved unconditionally. Jameisha’s love and devotion as a mother were unparalleled, and her daughter was the light of her life.”
