Hearing set on plea change in Tullahoma nurse slaying

photo Donnie Frank Jones Jr.
photo Erika Megan Sharpton

The Coffee County, Tenn., man accused in the 2012 slaying of 24-year-old Tullahoma nursing student Erika Megan Sharpton faces a court hearing in November on his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to a murder charge.

Donnie Frank Jones Jr., 39, originally was charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder on Feb. 4, 2013, in Franklin County Circuit Court and was sentenced on the plea to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But just three weeks later, Jones filed paperwork from a Morgan County prison cell to withdraw his guilty plea. Jones claimed his attorney gave him inadequate counsel and coerced him.

A hearing is set for Nov. 21 in Winchester, Tenn., according to Franklin County Circuit Court officials.

Jones' motion of Feb. 25, 2013, states that his attorney, Joseph Ford, "coerced" Jones into the guilty plea despite his assertion that "he could prove he was in another location when the crime occurred" and would only face conviction on the "mere word of the prosecutor."

Staff at Ford's office in Winchester said he was out of town and could not be reached.

Jones also claims authorities told him "that if he did not plead guilty they would find a way to convict his wife as well."

Jones' new attorney, Sam Hudson of Dunlap, Tenn., on Thursday but said he couldn't comment on the case.

12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor said Thursday that if Jones' motion is granted, the case will move toward trial.

If the judge denies Jones' motion, the plea and life sentence will stand as filed last year, Taylor said.

A motorist who turned around to check on a possible grass fire found Sharpton's burning body on July 2, 2012, off the side of Awalt Road on the shores of Tims Ford Lake.

Sharpton's 1995 Ford Mustang was found the same day on Three Forks Bridge Road in Bedford County, 15 to 20 miles away. An autopsy showed she died of blunt-force trauma.

Authorities said Jones met Sharpton through his wife, who also attended nursing school. Jones arranged a meeting with Sharpton under the guise of leading her to a job caring for someone at that person's home. He was arrested in November 2012, four months into the investigation.

Jones is serving his sentence at the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Hickman County, southwest of Nashville.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.

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