Letter to the Editor

Victim’s sister protests slayer’s parole

I am writing concerning Mike L. Weaver, who was my brother and the youngest of six children of Wesley and Joyce Weaver. He was on Spring Break March 11, 1981 when he was murdered during the commission of an armed robbery of Martin’s Scrap yard in Charleston. Mr. Martin was also murdered.

Our lives were forever changed that day. There are no words to describe the impact this senseless tragedy has had on our family and friends, and continues to have on our daily lives.

As many of you in Batesville and Panola County and the surrounding areas will recall, Mike was a very talented child who could play the piano, sing, and walked or rode his bike to the local hospital and nursing home on the weekends to visit the elderly and sick.

Mike would have been 44 years old on February 14, 2011. There is no doubt that Mike would have been a productive member of society, and would be providing support and comfort to our aging mother, Joyce Weaver, who has had some health challenges in the past years. Mike would have been a support for her, as we have tried to be, as she has fought heart disease and breast cancer.

John Earl Booker was initially given the death penalty by a jury; however, this was subsequently overturned by the State of Mississippi. We ask that you consider writing the MS State Parole Board at the below address to protest his parole.

Mississippi State Parole Board, 600 North State Street, Suite 100A, Jackson, MS 39202

RE: John Earl Booker, Inmate Number 38388

 Sincerely,

Wanda W. Prince