Erika Verdecia Murder: Where is Eric Pierson Now? – Verdecia vanished in September 2021, and it is said that she was last seen the next day. Her body was discovered in a canal, bound to stones. Erika Verdecia, a resident of Sunrise, was fatally stabbed.
The Investigation Discovery programme “Evil Lives Here: Shadows of Death” will describe how a convicted killer waited almost a year before committing his murder and how the judicial system failed the mother-of-one raising her child alone with the prior victims. On Sunday, October 16, the episode “Free to Kill Again,” will be broadcast.
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How Did Erika Verdecia Die?
The last day Erika Verdecia was purportedly seen by her friends and family was September 24, 2021, when she left her Broward County residence to buy smokes but failed to return. Given that her phone was off, her social media accounts were inactive, and her friends were unaware of her movements, her family reported her missing four days later, on September 28.
After failing to contact her daughter for days, Erika Verdecia’s mother, Carmen Verdecia, decided to search for her. When she discovered that one of her daughter’s friends had last seen Erika around the time of her abduction with a “grimy”-looking man by the name of Eric Pierson, she got in touch with them.
Who Killed Erika Verdecia and Why?
She was last seen with a man named Eric Pierson, who turned out to be a convicted murderer who was out on supervision, according to the investigation that followed and the efforts of a concerned mother to locate her missing daughter. She was allegedly last seen on September 25 in the passenger seat of Pierson’s truck when police stopped the two that morning, according to the authorities.
On October 4, the police contacted Pierson and questioned him regarding his interactions with Erika Verdecia. Verdecia allegedly left him at a gas station when they arrived there and wanted to meet up at a neighbouring Wendy’s, according to the man who claimed to be with him at the time. He continued by saying that he went to the location, but she did not show up. However, no film from Wendy’s security cameras shows Pierson.
After reviewing Verdecia’s phone records, investigators questioned Pierson again on October 15. According to reports, Pierson permitted police to search his pickup, and a forensic investigation found blood on the back seat.
The police were contacted the same night by Pierson’s girlfriend, who said he had been acting strangely for a few weeks and had muttered something about a body, and the police never found it. She added that she had noticed stones and other trash piling in the canal behind the mobile home and that Pierson’s vehicle mats were missing.
Divers recovered Erika Verdecia’s body from the canal on October 16. When Pierson admitted to killing Verdecia, police questioned him right away.
Where is Eric Pierson Now?
According to Sportskeeda, Pierson was questioned several times, and each time, there were inconsistencies in his statements of his time spent with Verdecia. Additionally, police discovered blood in the back seat of his car, and his girlfriend provided a tip that made them suspect he was responsible for the disappearance.
Authorities quickly learned that Eric Pierson had previously served two prison sentences for assaults on women. He was convicted of first-degree attempted murder in 1985 when it was claimed he broke into a woman’s house and cut her neck. Despite receiving an 18-year prison sentence, he was only imprisoned for four years before being freed.
Then, in 1993, Eric allegedly abandoned Kristina Whitaker’s dead body at a construction site after assaulting and strangling the 17-year-old Davie girl. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison after entering a guilty plea to second-degree murder.
Whitaker’s mother, Roxanne Grimstead, was startled to learn that Pierson had only served four of an 18-year sentence for the attempted murder case at the time.
According to a 1993 interview, Grimstead said, “You can sit and look at the papers and look at his background and let him out. This is incredible.”
Pierson committed another murder months after being freed from prison on supervised release in 2021 after spending less than 27 years. The convicted felon admitted to stabbing Erika Verdecia twice in the neck and once in each eye before throwing her body in the canal following the key finding of her body.
In a tweet, the Sunrise Police Department stated, “We now have in custody Eric Pierson, who has confessed to the murder of Erika Verdecia. Although this tragic news does not bring Erika back to her family and friends, we hope that it can bring some closure to her loved ones.”
He pleaded guilty once more, and he was given a life sentence.