On January 13, 1922, the sheriff's office received an anonymous letter alleging that Miles Pearson had killed his wife, Annie Pearson, and fled, leaving her body in the yard. Upon investigation, authorities discovered the body of Annie Pearson, a 24-year-old African-American woman, with a gunshot wound through the heart. Her body had been mutilated by animals. The Pearsons were sharecroppers who had been on the farm for only a few weeks.
Their animals were found tied up and famished.
Shortly after, Miles Pearson was found dead in the woods, shot in the back, with a shotgun nearby. A Black man named Jim McCullen and two white men discovered Pearson's body behind a log. It was noted that a man and woman who had been living with the Pearsons were missing. A week earlier, they had borrowed a horse and buggy from George Barnes and had not been seen since.
The coroner's inquest concluded that Annie Pearson died from a pistol shot wound through the heart, allegedly murdered by her husband, Miles Pearson. Miles Pearson's death was attributed to a gunshot wound, with the perpetrators unknown. There is no record of any arrests or identification of suspects in connection with these deaths. The case remains unsolved.
