For a second time, a Douglas County jury has convicted a man of murder for running over a grandmother in 2014.
Dewey Calhoun Green, now 31, was previously convicted in August 2015 of killing 53-year-old Janice Pitts, who died June 25, 2014, after being run over as her daughter and grandson watched helplessly. Green was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But in November 2019, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned that conviction, ruling that a trial court excluded a key witness’ testimony that may have affected the jury’s guilty verdict. On Thursday, a different jury convicted Green again after his second trial, which lasted nine days.
“Getting justice doesn’t come easy,” Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine said in a statement. “This was a long and tough fight, but it is one we are committed to have because Ms. Pitts and her family deserve justice. As for this defendant and criminals like him, we will work every day to hold criminals accountable, whether it takes eight months or eight years.”
In 2014, Pitts’ SUV was struck from behind multiple times as she took her daughter to work. Her 4-year-old grandson was in the back seat, her daughter told investigators.
“She was just concerned about her grandbaby,” her daughter, Iesha Davis, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after her mother’s death.
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
It was Green who had struck Pitts’ Lincoln Navigator with his Chevrolet Silverado, witnesses told investigators. When Pitts got out of her SUV, Green pinned her between the two vehicles, put the truck in reverse, then drove forward over Pitts.
“He literally ran my mother’s head over,” Davis said.
Green left the scene and drove a short distance up an embankment until his truck came to a stop, according to prosecutors. Witnesses grabbed his keys and detained him until police arrived. Green initially denied he had been driving the truck and claimed he hadn’t struck anyone.
At his first sentencing, Green told the court he suffered a head injury and seizure and lost control of his truck.
“I understand my apologies may seem petty in comparison to the anguish you have toward me, but I am not the person that police and the media have portrayed,” Green said. “Believe me when I say I value life and family, I would never kill anyone on purpose.”
For his second trial, Green hired Cobb County defense attorneys John and Ashleigh Merchant. He was again convicted and awaits sentencing later this month, the DA’s office said.
Green, who previously served in Hancock State Prison in Sparta, was returned to the Douglas County jail after his most recent conviction.
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