Self-proclaimed 'serial killer' who shot pregnant girlfriend sentenced to 159 years for 3 more murders

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (TCN) -- A 25-year-old man who is already serving over 100 years in prison for killing his girlfriend and who compared himself to horror movie character Michael Myers has been sentenced to another century behind bars for killing three others.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday, Feb. 14, that a judge sentenced Joshua Dotson to 159 years after he pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murders for the deaths of Divieon Parker, Renita Bennett, and Reginald Anderson. He also entered the plea for three counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. In October, he was sentenced to 102 years for killing girlfriend Jamesha Covson and her unborn child.

In total, Dotson has been sentenced to 261 years in prison for the murders.

During his trial for Covson’s killing, Dotson reportedly called himself a "serial killer" and said he was like Michael Myers from the "Halloween" horror movie franchise.

According to the Memphis Police Department, on June 12, 2020, officers went to a home on the 1200 block of Quinn Avenue for a shooting call and found 19-year-old Covson suffering from gunshot wounds. Paramedics transported her to a hospital, where she and her unborn child died. Police said Covson and Dotson got into an argument, and Dotson fired at the home as he was leaving. Dotson fled the scene following the incident.

Police linked him to the shooting deaths of Parker on Nov. 19, 2019, and Bennett and Anderson on May 24, 2020.

Dotson was later captured in Nashville by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Shelby County prosecutor Regina Lucreziano said following the Feb. 14 sentencing, "After five years, we are pleased to finally have justice for Dotson’s multiple victims. His sentences, both from the guilty verdict after a trial and these two pleas today, amount to 261 years in prison. While no amount of time in prison will bring the victims back to their loved ones, we are content that he will never be a threat to our community again."

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