Convicted Florida murderer Eric Pierson killed single mother Erika Verdecia after being released from prison, police say

A Florida man convicted of two murders in 1985 and 1993 has been charged with the murder of a 33-year-old single mother, local authorities have said. Eric Pierson confessed to killing his third victim, Erika Verdecia, according to police, claiming he stabbed her four times with a screwdriver on September 25. The 6-foot-8 Pierson was charged hours after Verdecia’s body was found near Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. .

Verdecia, who leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter, was reported missing on September 27, around the same time a friend told her family that she had seen Verdecia with a “filthy” man in a sandwich shop that had said its name. was Eric Pierson. In court documents, Sunrise Police said officers had a brief interaction with Verdecia and her suspected killer during a routine traffic stop on September 25. Sitting in Pierson’s truck, she didn’t appear to be in distress.

The 54-year-old convict was released from prison last September after serving 27 years of a four-decade sentence for beating and strangling 17-year-old Kristina Whitaker in 1993. Previously, Pierson was paroled four years later 18 years old. a year in prison after breaking into a woman’s house and slitting her throat in 1985. “Why is this guy on the street?” Why? ”Carmen Verdecia, the victim’s mother, asked the Sun Sentinel. “He’s going to pay this time. We’re not going to stop until we see him in the electric chair.