Convicted Murderer Charged With Murder Of Florida Woman Year After Prison Release

A man with a history of violence against women is believed to have claimed the life of a second victim. 54-year-old Eric Pierson has been arrested after the body of 33-year-old Erika Verdecia was discovered in a canal. The woman had been missing for weeks. Police were led to the canal by the accused’s partner who told the police of disturbing references he made about the canal.

The south Florida woman had gone out on Sept. 25 and she failed to return. Her mother Carmen Verdecia questioned her daughter’s friends on social media. One of the friends revealed that Erika had last been seen with Pierson on the day of her disappearance.

Carmen searched Pierson’s name on the internet to discover that he was a convicted murderer. The worried mother reported Erika missing on Sept. 27.

Sunrise Police Department began investigating the incident. They questioned Pierson, who admitted that he the missing women had driven off together. The duo was pulled over at a traffic stop following which they went to a gas station, the suspect narrated. He then said that the missing woman left his vehicle and told him to meet her at a nearby Wendy’s. However, he claims that when he got to the restaurant she did not turn up.

Investigation revealed that the duo had stopped at the gas station before they were pulled over. Surveillance footage at Wendy’s showed that Pierson had never gone there.

On Friday, Oct. 15 the police questioned the suspect again. They also searched his vehicle and found bloodstains. The same day, the man’s partner shared disturbing information. She told the police that the man had started to look at the canal near their home and say that it stank. He also said that if the police did not find a body they would not have a case, CBS News reported.

The police searched the canal and discovered Erika’s body the same day.

Pierson was taken into custody and questioned. He told the police that he had stabbed the woman twice in the neck with a screwdriver in self-defense, Local 10 reported.

Erika is not Pierson’s first victim. In 1993, he had strangled and killed 17-year-old Kristina Whitaker. He had served 27 years of a 40-year sentence before being released in September 2020. Even before Whitaker’s murder, the violent man had attacked a woman in 1985. He broke into her home and slashed her neck. His victim survived the attack and he served four years of an 18-year sentence for first-degree attempted murder.

The devastated mother of Pierson’s latest victim is astonished at how the accused was out free. She hopes that he will get the electric chair for the murder of the single mother.