A man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted Friday of shooting a woman in DeKalb County and burning her alive inside her own car nearly four years ago, prosecutors said.
Gerald Jerome Clark, 44, was found guilty of murder, arson and kidnapping in the death of 27-year-old Mary Kilpatrick, whom he forced into the trunk of her vehicle, opened fire and then set it ablaze, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. Superior Court Judge Asha F. Jackson sentenced Clark to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“An autopsy revealed she was still alive when the fire was set,” prosecutors said.
On Sept. 26, 2020, DeKalb crews were called to a vehicle fire in the 500 block of Fieldgreen Drive near Stone Mountain, where they found a body in the trunk after putting out the flames. Prosecutors said the remains were so badly damaged that they needed to use DNA analysis to identity the woman as Kilpatrick. Police originally listed her as a “Jane Doe.”
During the investigation, surveillance footage at a nearby motel showed Clark with Kilpatrick about an hour before the fire, according to the DA’s office.
Witnesses told police that Clark drove the victim’s car to a friend’s house, where people heard someone banging for help in the trunk and confronted him. Clark then pulled out a gun and pointed it at the trunk, but one of the witnesses stopped him from shooting, prosecutors said.
Soon after, Clark went to his cousin’s house and asked them to buy some gas to torch the car. His family member obliged but was unaware someone was inside, the DA’s office said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“Clark drove off with the gas, made a brief stop to shoot into the trunk and then parked the car on Fieldgreen (Drive), where he doused the vehicle in gas and set it on fire before leaving the scene,” prosecutors said.
After spending a few months on the run, Clark was arrested in Decatur on Dec. 23, 2020, with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service. According to Clark’s arrest warrant, he shot Kilpatrick repeatedly before locking her in the trunk. It’s unclear how the two knew each other.
In addition to felony and malice murder charges, Clark was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault, first-degree criminal damage to property, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
He was previously arrested by DeKalb police on theft and forgery charges on Jan. 22, 2020, about eight months before the killing, jail records show. He bonded out two days later.
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