The Murder of Laverne ‘Kay’ Parsons
For this case, I watched an episode of Mother, May I Murder? It’s season 1 episode 1, titled ‘Suburban Psycho.’
A woman is attacked in her home after returning from dropping her son off at school.
Background
Kay Parsons lived in Grovetown, Georgia with her husband, David, and son, Derek. She loved her family and always put their needs above hers.
The Parsons lived at 229 Hot Springs and became close to the Sears family that lived next door at 227 Hot Springs. They played tennis together, while their sons played sports like baseball together. Becky Sears and her husband, Tony, had 3 sons together. Becky also had 2 sons, Christopher and Michael Bowers, from a previous marriage.
David and Kay Parsons
The Attack
On March 25, 2009, a handyman named Mitchell Cozart called 911. He arrived at the Parsons home to do some work, but couldn’t reach Kay. He also found that someone had broken into the house through the backdoor.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Department arrived. They immediately saw the shattered glass in the back of the house. The mattress in the bedroom had been flipped over and all the drawers had been pulled out. There was blood on the walls and floors.
Kay was found in the garage near her car in a pool of blood. A claw hammer and a baseball bat were on the ground next to her.
Kay had been beaten and had injuries all over her body. She also had defensive wounds. Kay had a faint heartbeat when she was found, so she was rushed to the hospital.
Kay’s husband, David had been in California for business at the time. He flew back and had to take his wife off life support.
The First Suspect
The police learned that the house next door belonging to the Sears family had been broken into as well. The glass in the door had been shattered, and the house was in disarray. Luckily, no one was home at the time. But, a small drop of blood was found on the back door.
Becky Sears learned about the break-in at her house and about the attack on Kay. She appeared to be very distraught and asked about Kay’s condition.
Mitchell Cozart, the handyman was interviewed. He said he arrived at Kay’s house around 8:45 am. He told the police that he called 911 after finding the back door glass broken. He then saw the neighborhood boy sitting down on a rock across the street from the two homes. The boy was identified as Michael Bowers, Becky’s son.
The police spoke to Michael and asked to see the bottom of his shoes. He had a shard of glass stuck to the bottom of his shoes.
The Second Attack
About 36 hours after Kay’s murder, Becky Sears called 911. She was at her job at Healing Hands Physical Therapy at the time. She said a man walked in and shot her in the leg.
Becky told the police that the man had threatened her. He said she would be shot in the face next time if he didn’t get his money.
The police looked into the background of Michael Bowers. They learned that Michael had a criminal history, and had developed a drug problem. Becky treated her other son, Christopher differently. Christopher had a full-time job and his own house.
Becky had told her neighbors that she was fed up with Michael and was going to kick him out.
The Motive
About 48 hours after Kay’s murder, an inmate named Jerry Jacobs contacted the police. Jerry was also the brother of Becky.
Jerry dropped a bombshell on the police. He believed that his sister was involved in Kay’s murder.
Jerry said that Becky came to him one day and said she had been having an affair with David Parsons. Becky had asked him if he knew of anyone who would kill Kay and make it look like an accident. Jerry told Becky that he didn’t want to be involved.
The police became suspicious of David Parsons after the news of the affair broke. He was interviewed on March 27, 2009.
David admitted to having an affair with Becky. He said it started the previous summer. Becky had come onto him and said that she was bad at tennis because he distracted her.
They started texting and calling each other. Becky even gave David another cell phone. They would meet for sex at each other's homes. Becky became obsessed with David.
Becky had decided to tell Tony about the affair. David realized that she had crossed a line, and ended the affair. He said Becky didn’t take the break up well.
The police obtained David’s phone records. They confronted him and told him that they knew he talked to Becky the night before the murder. David said they had phone sex that night.
David denied being involved in murdering his wife. He said that he had no idea that Becky was capable of doing this. David was forthcoming about his affair. He was eventually ruled out as being a suspect.
The Other Son
The police learned from David that Christopher knew about their affair. Becky had confided in him about the affair and troubles in the marriage with Tony. Jerry also told the police that Becky and Christopher talked every night about things. They seemed to have a very interesting mother-son relationship.
Michael Bowers was eliminated as a suspect, and the police turned their attention to Christopher.
Christopher would’ve done anything to please Becky. She would give him money and buy him cars if he did things for her. Becky would supply Christopher with drugs like Oxycodone and Oxycontin. Jerry said Christopher also took Xanax and had become a different person when he took it.
Christopher and Becky were both interviewed by the police.
The Arrests
Christopher was not cooperative. He asked for a lawyer immediately.
Becky threw her son under the bus. She said she made Christopher think that she wanted him to do something horrible to someone.
Becky said she had gone to Christopher’s house a few hours before the murder. She picked him up and brought him to her house. She said Christopher hid in a spare bedroom. Christopher was outside in their backyard when she left with her other kids. Kay had also left her house to drive Derek to school.
Christopher jumped the fence and went to Kay’s house. He broke into the house and attacked her when she arrived home. He then fled down a path in the woods. He had a backpack with spare clothes inside. It was clear that he and Becky had planned this.
Becky said she picked Christopher up and noticed that he had blood on his face. Christopher had admitted to beating the crap out of Kay.
Becky also admitted that she and Christopher had set up the attack on her at her job. Christopher was supposed to shoot near her to scare her. They knew that the police were too close and wanted to draw attention away from them.
They were both arrested and charged with murder.
The Convictions
Both Christopher and Becky pled not guilty. They were both facing the death penalty.
In the courtroom, Becky blew kisses to Christopher which were caught on camera. She also said ‘I love you.’
In May 2012, Becky told her attorney and the prosecution that she knew where the bloody clothing that Christopher had been wearing was. It had been hidden at her mother’s house in the attic.
The clothing had Christopher and Kay’s DNA on it. With the discovery of the clothes, Christopher pled guilty to murder.
The death penalty was taken off the table for both of them. They were both sentenced to life without parole for murder, a life sentence for armed robbery, and 20 years for burglary.
Christopher Bowers and Becky Sears
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s clear that Becky was the true mastermind and manipulated Christopher into helping her. She knew what she was doing when she gave him Xanax and other drugs. However, he still made the decision to walk over to Kay’s house and attack her. He may not have been in his right mind, but he deserves to pay for what he did.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-christopher-bowers-now/
https://murderpedia.org/female.S/s/sears-rebecca.htm
https://www.pressreader.com/australia/new-idea/20230102/282703346173796
