Episode 134 Jesse Dempsey
41 Year old father of three, Jesse Dempsey was shot to death around 11pm as he drove about 70MPH along I-20 near Lithonia, in DeKalb County Georgia on October 25th, 2020. Jesse was driving his girlfriend Kendra Vickery's White GMC Sierra Pickup when a single bullet blew out the back window, passed through the driver's headrest, and struck Jesse in the head. Kendra, who was in the passenger seat next to Jesse, initially thought that a tire had blown out. Jesse slammed on the brakes and came to a stop in the middle lane, and the truck was struck from behind by another driver, 39-year-old Marie Fleuristin. Kendra's truck wound up on the shoulder of the road, and Kendra called 911 as she tried to get out of the vehicle. Tragically, Marie Fleuristin, the driver of the vehicle that slammed into Kendra's truck, exited her vehicle and was struck and killed by a semi truck.
Jesse was barely alive and was rushed to the hospital, while Kendra was taken to the police station where police questioned her for hours before finally telling her that Jesse had died earlier that night from his injuries. Kendra felt like a suspect which was surprising to her since the evidence clearly pointed to a shooter outside of the truck firing the shot that killed Jesse.
Following Jesse's death, his family was left to wonder, was Jesse targeted by someone intending to kill him, or was he the victim of a random sniper. It turns out that Jesse was mixed up with some shady people, but it also came to light that other vehicles in that same stretch of highway have been shot at, Today, Jesse's case remains unsolved. In this episode, his girlfriend Kendra recounts the events of that tragic night, and shares her thoughts about the case.
If you have any information about this case, or any of the shootings along I-20, please call DeKalb County Homicide detectives at 770-724-7856