Capital murder suspect Dylan Welch from Jacksonville, TX gets to live to tell his tale the way it was told to him.
New Summerfield, TX:
Friday February 3, 2023 - Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth announced he would not be seeking the death penalty for Dylan Welch, one of the three defendants from the July 21, 2021 quadruple murder of four New Summerfield residents. (Source: CBS 19) Beckworth was able to flip his favorite of the three currently incarcerated homicide suspects by taking lethal injection off the table and getting the Dylan Welch defense team the most sober court appointed attorney on the Rusk square. Welch will be testifying against fellow drug informants Jesse Pawlowski and Billy Phillips, who both remain eligible for capital punishment. Until one of them admits to only driving the stolen getaway car. (Source: Prosecution will not seek death penalty for 1 of 3 Cherokee County quadruple homicide suspects, KETK)
Cherokee County DA office meets their murder case quota by releasing violent drug offenders.
From July 2021 - Three career criminals in Jacksonville, TX have been arrested and charged with the capital murder of four residents in nearby New Summerfield, TX. The bodies of John Clinton, Jeff Gerla, Ami Hickey, and Amanda Barnes were found in a home in the 1600 block of Hwy 101 N. (Source: CBS 19) The three suspects have avoided past prosecution and tough sentencing by agreeing to be confidential informants for Cherokee County law enforcement. All three have been arrested and released for similar crimes in the last few years, despite being on Supervised Probation.
Jesse Pawlowski and Dylan Welch both have probated burglary convictions buried in the 2nd Judicial District court; absconding sex offender Billy Phillips was arrested by Jacksonville Police and released 2 weeks prior to the killings. Pawlowski was reported to have been in an polyamorous relationship with two of the victims. The Cherokee County Sheriff Department issued a statement concluding the killings resulted in a dispute over "guns and clothes," not mentioning the extensive drug use and stolen 2017 Dodge Challenger that led to their arrests. Sheriff Dickson's version of events excluded that all three had been in and out of Cherokee County custody while escalating their crime sprees. (Source: KETK)
