MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Terry Patterson’s older brother, who did not want to be identified, said he was not surprised his loved one was back in jail.
However, the concerned uncle was surprised Patterson is charged with killing his on son.
“I came by to try and make sure it was true — that it wasn’t true or what have you,” Josiah Patterson’s uncle told WREG. “But now I found out it is true. So, ugh.”
Police said Patterson murdered his son Josiah on Saturday morning at an apartment on Evergreen Street in North Memphis.
WREG uncovered Patterson has been in and out of jail for years facing everything from violent disorderly conduct to statutory rape charges.
“I didn’t know he was a sex offender either,” Vanessa Crowley, who knows Patterson, said.
Court records revealed Patterson pleaded guilty to statutory rape in 1996.
He served six months behind bars and was fined $500.
Patterson confessed to a second statutory rape charge in 2001, for which he served another nine months and paid a $500 fine.
“You’ll give a kid back to him, and you know the history of being violent, and you give that right back to him,” Crowley said.
Neighbors and family members were still trying to figure out why Patterson was given temporary custody with the court knowing of his violent sexual past.
“It’s rough — still hard to believe that, you know, he’s gone,” Andre McKinley said.
Patterson is expected in court Tuesday.
The family set up a donation page to raise money for funeral costs.
