Crime
Man takes plea in capital murder case involving Vicksburg resident’s mother
On Friday in a Jones County Circuit Court courtroom, Michael Shane Askew entered into a plea agreement in the slaying of 82-year-old Betty Lou Dickerson on February 17, 2020.
Circuit Judge Dal Williamson said, “It is unimaginable. It is unspeakable” before sentencing Askew to life without the possibility of parole. “We are here because Mr. Askew sent a letter from the jail asking to enter a plea deal and waive his rights to trial,” said District Attorney Tony Buckley.
“On Monday, February 17, 2020, the victim in the case, Betty Lou Dickerson, was found by her son and a friend of hers who is also friends with her son, who arrived for lunch at her house which was located at 13 Shady Lane, located in Laurel, Mississippi,” said Buckley.
Askew was later apprehended by US Marshals near Nashville, Tennessee. Dickerson’s Toyota Camry automobile was located nearby.
Askew was convicted in Jasper County in 2016 on controlled substance charges. He served 147 days before climbing a jail fence and escaping. In August 2017, Askew was sentenced to serve five years for the escape, but was released less than a year later.
Vicksburg resident Tina Daughtery-Cole was Dickerson’s oldest daughter. In court she addressed her Mother’s killer saying, “I don’t know if you were born a monster or were made into a monster, but you are a monster.”
Askew remains in the custody of the Jones County Sheriff’s Office. He still faces charges in neighboring Jasper County for child molestation.
