Sentenced: Man Killed Former Public Official After She Reported Rape

[Sugar Cookie]

A 66-year-old man raped a former Region public official Monday, snuck into her SUV while she was giving a detective a statement Wednesday and shot her in the back after she left the Gary Police Department, court records allege.

Earl W. Shearer Sr. was charged with murder Friday in the shooting death of 74-year-old Mary Felton.

Felton was found dead about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday in the driver's seat of her white Hummer, according to Lake Criminal Court records.

Gary police said they were called to the location for a report of a suspicious vehicle.

Shearer, who previously served prison time for murder in Georgia, was arrested about 5:45 p.m. Thursday in Whiting after a license plate reader alerted on Shearer's vehicle, Gary police Cmdr. Jack Hamady said.

Felton was at the Gary Police Department from about 1:45 to 4 p.m. Wednesday to talk to a detective about allegations Shearer broke into her house in the city's Glen Park section Monday, pointed a gun at her when she arrived home and raped her, according to court records.

Felton told police she was leaving the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago on Monday afternoon when she encountered Shearer.

He became angry when she said she didn't want to speak to him, told her not to call police and left, records state.

When Felton arrived home, she noticed a pillow out of place just before Shearer emerged from inside her home and pointed a gun at her, documents say.
Felton alleged Shearer told her, "If you breathe the police again, I'm gonna kill you. Don't act a fool and report anything."

After the alleged rape, Felton went to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus, where a sexual assault kit was collected.

Felton told an officer she dated Shearer, but they never had sex, documents say.

Felton previously reported Sept. 24 that Shearer had been throwing rocks at her windows to get her attention, Gary police records show.

According to court records, two detectives walked Felton to her Hummer after her interview Wednesday.

Felton pointed out a white Nissan Altima in the Police Department parking lot and told the detectives it resembled Shearer's car.

One of the detectives checked the Altima and looked under Felton's Hummer for any tracking devices, but he did not look inside the Hummer, records state. The detective later recalled two letters of the Altima's license plate, which were found to match the license plate for the Altima registered to Shearer.

When detectives reviewed Gary Police Department surveillance footage, they saw a man matching Shearer's description pull into the Police Department parking lot about 3:05 p.m.

The man got out of an Altima and entered the rear passenger side of Felton's Hummer, court records state.

Man killed former public official after she reported rape, police say

Detectives think Mary Felton was targeted, and the shooting was an isolated case, police said.

www.nwitimes.com

 

[Sejanus]

A pickaxe to his lower back will settle him.

 

[thuumpr]

Wow! The only thing I took away from this is she's 74 and has a hummer.

Nah! I read the whole thing...

I'm guessing he thought they had a relationship - rapes her and then wants to talk...

 

[Hermy]

So Shearer traded a rape charge for a murder one charge. He probably thinks a nickel is worth more than a dime because it's bigger.

The cop who looked UNDER her car but not IN it will probably be kicking himself bloody until the day he dies.

 

[Inferus]

That guy seriously disproves low T.

 

[Symmachus]

He meant it when he said she shouldn't go to the police. What a perverse man.

 

[Jifetayo]

Sick

 

[Donut Whisperer]

This murderer didn't care if he went back to prison. It sounds like he must have known he'd end up back in prison. Maybe her figured if he couldn't have her, no one else was going to, and he'd just go back home.

 

[Anubis]

Here I was thinking rape charges were better than murder ones.

 

[roadsidehorror]

Zod pput alot of shit in this ugly little package of a human.

 

[TX Leather Face]

Gonna reserve judgment on this one until the term “public official” is specified.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A man who admitted in court documents he fatally shot a Gary Library Board member he had allegedly raped days earlier was sentenced to 85 years in prison Thursday.

Earl Shearer, 67, of Gary and Chicago, did not speak before sentencing. He agreed to plead guilty to murder and a firearms enhancement, sentenced to 65 and 20 years, respectively.

Mary Felton, 74, was at the Gary police facility, 555 Polk, on Dec. 8 to report that Shearer raped her. As she was leaving, two sex crimes detectives walked her to her car. One detective looked under her car for a tracking device, but admitted he didn’t look inside, according to an affidavit.

Shearer was waiting in her back seat, documents show. She was found fatally shot in her car near 8th Avenue and Lincoln Street less than two hours later.

Man sentenced to 85 years in Felton murder

A man who admitted in court documents he fatally shot a Gary Library Board member he had allegedly raped days earlier was sentenced to 85 years in prison Thursday. Earl Shearer, 67, of Gary and Chi…

www.chicagotribune.com