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SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
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AGE
2
November 6, 2014
P
LYMOUTH
- W
ESTLAND
Ex-boyfriend charged in woman’s death
The boyfriend of a Westland
woman found strangled in her
home faces a preliminary court
hearing on charges of first
degree murder today at 18th
District Court.
Wayne County Prosecutor
Kym Worthy has charged Jaime
Allen Pearson, 38, of Westland
with the murder of Rachel
Watson, 30, also of Westland fol-
lowing the discovery of her body
in the basement of her home in
the 34800 block of Avondale on
Oct. 22.
According to police reports,
officers were dispatched to
Watson's home in the evening of
Oct. 22 after co-workers at the
Heartland Health Care Center in
Ann Arbor became concerned
when she failed to arrive at work
on Wednesday evening. A co-
worker who also lives in
Westland went to Watson's home
that afternoon and found the vic-
tim's four children alone in the
home. She told police she looked
through the rooms at the ranch-
style home but there was no
answer to her initial calls or
search for Watson. She took the
children home with her and
called the father of the three old-
est children who came to her
home and took themwithhim.
The co-worker, who baby-sat
for Watson's children on occa-
sion, was acquainted with the
family and the children. She
called Watson's sister who came
to pick up the youngest child,
only a year old. Pearson is the
father of the youngest child,
according to police.
Watson's sister and the co-
worker went back to Watson's
home about four hours after the
co-worker's first visit for a more
thorough search, and discovered
Watson's body in the basement.
Westland officers were called
to the scene and immediately
responded to the obvious signs of
foul play, police said. The Wayne
County Medical Examiner deter-
mined the cause of Watson's
death as strangulation and ruled
the deathahomicide.
After Westland investigators
interviewed witnesses, Pearson
was arrested as he was leaving
an apartment complex in
Detroit. He was arraigned in the
34th District Court in Romulus
on Oct. 26 and bail was not
allowed. He was immediately
remanded to the Wayne County
Jail where he will remain until
the disposition of the charges
against him.
If found guilty of first-degree
murder, Pearson faces life in
prison without the possibility of
parole.
Help needed for ‘Difference Day’
5 vie for distinguished title
Want to make a difference by helping
a senior citizen or person with a disabil-
ity?
Plymouth Community United Way
(PCUW) still needs volunteers to clean
yards and do light chores in Plymouth,
and Plymouth and Canton townships on
Saturday, Nov. 15.
Volunteers will meet on the day of the
event at Plymouth First United
Methodist Church for a continental
breakfast and instructions for making a
difference by helping a senior citizen or
personwith a disability.
Check in time is 7:30 a.m. Volunteers
are asked to bring rakes, garden tools
and gloves and have their own trans-
portation to travel between homes.
United Way will supply the yard waste
bags which will be distributed at the
church.
All ages are welcome, but those
under 18 need to be accompanied by an
adult. To volunteer, call Randi Williams
at (734) 453-6879, ext. 7 or e-mail
randi.williams@pcuw.org byNov. 13.
For more information and an appli-
cation,
visit
www.plymouthunitedway.org.
Serving the Plymouth, Canton and
Western Wayne County area since 1944,
Plymouth Community United Way
addresses human service needs of indi-
viduals and families.
Nine young women will vie for the title
of Distinguished Young Woman of Wayne
Westland during a program at John Glenn
HighSchool tomorrow.
The nine candidates, all high school
seniors, will be judged on academic
achievement, talent, self-expression, phys-
ical fitness and a personal interview. The
programwill begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7.
Contestants this year include:
DominiqueDenson fromLivoniaFranklin
High School; Helen Bishop, Kendall
Stasser, Andrea Macek and Kendall
Isaacs, all from John Glenn High School
and Hailey Vaughan, Micah Hill, Kayla
Strong and Rajanae Haley from Wayne
Memorial HighSchool.
The Distinguished Young Woman pro-
gram awards college scholarships to the
contestants annually. The winner of the
Wayne-Westland title will represent the
communities in the state program.
Examiner determined the head wound
to be the cause of Mr. Labita's death
and ruled the death a homicide,
according to police reports.
Police said that Mr. Labita lived
alone following the deaths of hiswife in
2012 and daughter in 2008.
Investigators said that Mr. Labita was a
long-time Plymouth Township resident
and was well-known throughout the
community. According to witness
accounts, Mr. Labita was planning to
move out of state and was in the
process of selling many of his belong-
ings.
As a result of the investigation by
Plymouth Township Police who fol-
lowed various investigative leads
including tips from other police agen-
cies as well as information provided by
the public, Nutt and Pisarski were
identified as suspects in the homicide.
It is alleged that Pisarski was present
when her boyfriend, Nutt, fatally shot
Mr. Labita in the head at point-blank
range in the late afternoon of Oct. 24.
Police said the suspects ransacked the
victim's home searching for valuables
following the shooting.
Nutt and Pisarski are alleged to
have stolen cash and several guns from
Mr. Labita's home before fleeing the
scene. A family members said that Nutt
is the son of a friend ofMr. Labita.
The pair was arrested Oct. 28,
according to police reports
If convicted of the homicide charges,
the suspects face life in prison without
parole.
Death
FROM PAGE 1
Andrew Jeffrey Nutt
Miriah Nichole Pisarski
Kenneth J. Labita