Court docs: Woman killed wealthy pawn shop owner, stole from his Milwaukie home

By Web Staff

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    CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Oregon (KPTV) — A woman who was found and arrested in Florida was booked into the Clackamas County Jail on a murder charge for the killing of a Milwaukie man in March, and court documents reveal details of what happened the morning of his death.

Nistasha Rose Tate, also known as Nitasha, faces charges of first-degree robbery and second-degree murder after Jimmy Alan Pearson’s body was found in his home on March 3, two days after authorities say Tate killed him. According to court documents, Pearson’s home is over 8,000 square feet and worth over $2.2 million. Pearson owned some local pawn shops and one of his employees had not heard from him for several days and so he went to the house to check on Pearson. It was then the employee found Pearson’s body lying face down on his bed in a pool of blood. It appeared Pearson was shot in the back of his head.

When a Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office detective unlocked Pearson’s iPhone during the investigation at his home, the phone showed the last person Pearson texted was a contact named “Paris Royal Nitasha,” court documents state. During the early morning hours of March 1, Tate was seen on security camera footage arriving and leaving Pearson’s home. According to court documents, she was seen leaving “with considerably more property than she was seen arriving with.”

Court documents state Tate was pulled over by a Milwaukie police officer for speeding as she drove away from Pearson’s home after he was shot and killed. During the traffic stop, the officer saw a gun on the passenger seat of the vehicle she was driving. The gun was seized after the officer determined Tate did not have a concealed handgun license. Tate consented to a search of the vehicle and police found a “large quantity of jewelry and coins,” according to court documents. Tate was cited for driving while suspended and was told to call someone for a ride.

Pearson had previously experienced a theft from his home back in March 2020, when $23,000 in cash and $300,000 in jewelry were taken from a safe, court documents state. During that investigation, Pearson said he believed his “life-in girlfriend” and employee, a 20-year-old woman at the time of the reported theft, was the suspect. According to court documents, Pearson appeared to have a “habit of engaging in relationships with younger females.” Tate was 23 at the time of Pearson’s death and in CCSO’s investigation into her background, it was learned she was arrested in Las Vegas in 2018 for prostitution and was employed at a strip club in Beaverton. According to court documents, it was believed Tate and Pearson were likely in a sexual relationship for at least a month.

After she was pulled over the morning of Pearson’s death, Tate left the state. She was arrested at a Florida Greyhound station in April and extradited to Oregon. She was booked into the Clackamas County Jail last Thursday and pleaded not guilty at her arraignment.

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