Oklahoma City pharmacist Jerome Ersland found guilty of murder in killing of suspect

By: Kevin Hayes
Topics: Daily Blotter

Jerome Ersland in court

/ KWTV

(CBS/KWTV/AP) - OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City pharmacist now faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after being found guilty of murder for the death of a 16-year-old who tried to rob his store.

Confronted by two holdup men in May 2009, Ersland pulled out a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. The drugstore's security camera then filmed Ersland as he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded Antwun Parker as he lay on the floor.

The 59-year-old had been hailed as a hero for protecting two fellow employees.

The Ersland jury began deliberations around 1:00 p.m. Thursday and returned with a the guilty verdict around 4:30 p.m.

The verdict stunned the courtroom. Ersland, who many hailed as a hero, sat emotionless as the guilty verdict was read. People sitting behind him were noticeably upset.

Parker's mother and her sisters were inside the courtroom most of the trial, and burst out of the room when the verdict was read. They clung to each other and cried in the hallway in an outpouring of emotion.

Erlsand was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs with deputies surrounding him. The wife of the Reliable Pharmacy owner was seen crying as she left.

She was visibly stunned that the jury chose to find Ersland guilty of murder instead of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Judge Ray Elliott refused to lift the gag order so the prosecution, the defense, and the jury are not allowed to comment on the verdict. But we do know the jury had asked to see the surveillance video of the robbery and shooting one more time before they went up to deliberate.

Ersland will be sentenced July 11, the same day Anthony Morrison and Emanuel Mitchell will be sentenced. Morrison and Mitchell were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy for planning the robbery at Reliable Pharmacy.

Coverage of Jerome Ersland on Crimesider

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by GW50 July 11, 2011 4:03 PM EDT: I think it is a travesty that Mr. Jerome Ersland has been found guilty of protecting his property and employees from armed robbers. He probably was in a state of terrible fear and momentarily lost touch with reality when he finished off the kid. May the perps go to HELL. Heaven help the rest of us if we find ourselves looking at the barrel of a gun held by kids who will never be tried as adults.; Reply to this comment

by 2blkpepper June 22, 2011 9:35 PM EDT

(home of the corrupt)
you and jerome ersland got the little-man inferior complex. you know people that have been hurt has u r mentallity. hurt begot hurt or a person thats been molested usually becomes the molester.
u know at schools now when sports are played they dont keep score so no ones feelings will b hurt.so kids will just enjoy playing.the thing in life is this everybody has the right to life (( you cannot stereotype.) u got people in u r family doing the same things u r stereotyping.the thing in life is this.( if u got one). is to be the best person u can b. and try to up-lift people as dr king did! (thats if u r mentally fit and sound).if youve got a mental illness that u can relate to hilter.that in u r illness of inferiorty complex. u feel the need to put some-one, place, or thing down to make u feel up.(I ask for u to accept jesus as u r lord and saviour).if i c someone less fortunate than myself i try lift them up.if people are happy in whatever theyre doing im happy for them as long as theyre not breaking the law.
God created us all and we all have character defects.i suggest that u clean up your own house. and that if u can u-lift a person n life do that.and remember we are all responsible for the choices we make.and if you go through life planting negative seeds. you will become rooten inside and out.that means mentally and physically!

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by USA_homeofthe_Corrupt June 27, 2011 12:08 PM EDT: "if people are happy in whatever theyre doing im happy for them as long as theyre not breaking the law."

Thats right, but this little Negro wasnt, so he got dead...end of story...im not going to comment on the rest of you blabbering. Have a great day :)

by 2blkpepper June 20, 2011 7:59 PM EDT

usa homeofthe corrupt
think of all the things that little -man cant do.
1.sit around with his hillbillie friends eating out there noses
2.go to the coned head hood rally at the lodge.
3.get his daughters and neices pregnant with his hillbille friends.
4.continue to use them narcotics hes on and talk retarded
5.him and his hillbillie friends impregnant granddaughters to keep inbreed alive.and talk funny.
6.get on internent and try to bully a whole race of people.
7.continue the steps to cause (brain) retardation (for example)i got shoot twice!! what happen? i thought i seen a ***** cat? which way did they go? i dont know,just give me some narcotics.im ready to go to prison so i can get some.
even today with people like u around we are still moving forward.thanks to the naacp

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by USA_homeofthe_Corrupt June 21, 2011 6:33 PM EDT: 2blkpepper

Wow, from reading your post I gather that you are the one that is "using them narcotics and talking retarded"

You referred to him as "that little man? Everything I have read people want you to believe he was a poor little misguided kid. Ok since he was a man and committed a crime like a man, playing with guns and threatening people's lives, then he paid the price like a man.
You know as well as I do if he survived, he would have been charged as a juvenile. In court, we would have heard how his daddy was not in his life, his momma was on drugs, people picked on him, he never got anything for his birthday and so on. He would have been slapped on the hand and would have still found a way to steal this man's money through some bullsh!t lawsuit for being shot in the head. He would have been back robbing people within six months. I honestly cannot say I am sad of the outcome with the exception of the ignorant justice system that has ruined the life of a productive citizen.
And as far as you saying, "even today with people like u around we are still moving forward.thanks to the naacp" I say, whoever is moving forward it sure isn't you!

by 2blkpepper June 20, 2011 7:08 PM EDT

this is to (homeofcorrupt)one that speak with forked tognue. u be the one that calls indians the savage. or u would like one to believe that columbus discovered america.youve raped,stole,molested,and in fact the biggest criminal ,drug user and bully in the whole world.you would like for one to believe that. and not see who you really are. and thats satan!!

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by USA_homeofthe_Corrupt June 21, 2011 6:57 PM EDT: 2blkpepper

No, I just call them as I see them. Yes, I have raped, stole and molested about as much as you have been a slave!

As far as the whole thing goes, the chances are 99.9% that the kid would have died regardless, he was shot in the HEAD. If he had survived he would more than likely have been a vegetable the rest of his life and chances are good if that were the case he would probably rather be dead, I know most would. The first shot was to the head, the other five were in the stomach/abdomen, the coroner said he could not say for sure if he would have lived or died which means it was more than likely a perfect shot through his head. If it would have just grazed his head they would have been all over that fact, you would have heard about it in every story "it just barely grazed him, he would have lived" but that's not the case. So why take a person's life for what amounts to putting five bullets into an already dead body?

If I am Satan then does that make you Santa Clause?


by tariakpodiete June 20, 2011 5:55 AM EDT: the man was heroic with his first shots which downed one criminal and scared the other away. however, he was NOT heroic when he came back inside and pumped five more shots into someone who was lying on the ground incapacitated. there is no justification for his actions.

he may be a good man, generally speaking, but sometimes good people do bad things, and good people don't lie about the mistakes they make. they take ownership. still, i think it should be second degree murder though, and not first degree. or perhaps even the highest type of manslaughter. he should go to jail, but not for life.

and the mother of the dead criminal should NOT be allowed to pursue a civil suit against this business owner. yes, what the man did was wrong, and he will be punished for it, but what about her responsibility of not having control of her scumbag son who thinks - thought - it's a great idea to be out and about robbing people? he got what he deserved. and now so should she, and in her case, that would be nothing.; Reply to this comment

by PSolver2 June 13, 2011 8:32 PM EDT

Sorry Mr. Ersland, I can understand your outrage and adrenaline at crime in your store. First shot, self-defense of you, your employees and business. But after looking out to shoot the second perp and walking over the downed perp in your store, retrieving a second gun, and pumping five, count em, five point blank bullets into his already not moving body .... straight murder. Would you have done the same for a white robber? or just fired over them a warning? Now you are the same as them, willing to senselessly take a life? Does it feel good?

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by 2blkpepper June 14, 2011 10:25 AM EDT: Thats right first shoot had it been lethal is: Justifiable Homicide!We all can agree on that.


by USA_homeofthe_Corrupt June 19, 2011 9:55 PM EDT: Your right! And to think of all the things this poor little innocent kid will never get to do

1. More armed robberies while a juvenile and walk free.
2. Drive by shootings with his "homies"
3. Getting several baby mommas pregnant so they can leech off the system.
4. Stealing everything that isn't nailed down
5. Becoming an adult, going to prison so taxpayers can support his thug life.
6. Getting out of prison and getting on welfare.
7. Going back to prison, because he missed his homies
8. Continuing his useless life cycle of being in & out of prison, so that he can rob, steal & murder and basically being a drain on society.

Very sad a young productive, poor, little, innocent kid's life cut short, just because he wanted to do a petty strong-armed robbery. Shame on that RETIRED USAF Lieutenant Colonel for not just being another statistic of inner city juvenile crime. Way to go NAACP, keep the dream alive!

by johnnieonenote June 13, 2011 4:40 PM EDT

So what; at least this piece of garbage won't commit another crime and the taxpayers won't have to pay his medical bills and his life sentence in prison.

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by christoph415 June 13, 2011 5:37 PM EDT: Well .. the taxpayers will just have to pay the bills for this murderer. For someone who is in a profession to "heal", I am really outraged by this man's actions. If are in a position to defend himself (such as he was), he was not in the wrong by shooting the robber in order to subdue him until the police arrived. He did NOT have the right to play a scene from the Wild West and return back to the store and shoot a human that has not moved since being shot and poses no additional threat. When he came back from chasing the others and decided to shoot that person, it was then the pharmacist became a murder.

by spiderxing June 13, 2011 3:20 AM EDT

Most of you do not seem to realize why he is being charged with murder. He is not being charged simply because he defended himself with lethal force against an attacker. If you watch the video he shoots one of the attackers and then chases the other away. That was, most likely, perfectly legal because he and his employees were in immediate, life-threatening danger. While he did shoot the one without the gun, that shooting would probably still be considered justified because the owner did have a gun pointed at him; also the un-armed was still one of the attackers and that attacker could have still had a weapon on him (in his bag or in his pocket).

The problem occurs when the owner comes back into the shop. One attacker is gone and the other is disabled by a shot to the head. The immediate threat is gone. The owner shot the kid several times when he was not in danger. That is why he was charged with murder. The extra shots, and thus the death, were unnecessary because there was no danger. Killing someone without legally justifiable reason (eg: self defense in a life threatening situation) is murder. Some of you want to claim that the video doesn't show enough and the kid may have been going for a weapon. The owner walked by him without problem when he left the store and walked by him again without much more than a glance when going behind the counter. The attacker obviously wasn't doing too much at that point and didn't appear to be a threat if the owner walks by him 2 and is not afraid to turn his back to him. Also, I doubt the kid would have started going for weapon in those last few seconds for two reasons. 1)The kid stayed in the same spot as he fell, even after the owner left the shop and then returned. That implies he was disabled or unconscious and he was not doing anything too suspicious or obviously threatening. 2) If there was obvious signs he was doing something threatening, the police would, probably have found evidence of it around the body or noticed it in the body's position and the owner would not have been charged.

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by 2blkpepper June 13, 2011 10:44 AM EDT: you got that vigilante(willie lynch)mentallity in that you think you can appoint yourself judge, jury, & executioner. you and your kind have been afforded abuse of power in the past&think youre still entitled to do as tou feel irregardless of the law.and to top it of you stated the jury dumb. thats funny!proof is in the pudding as to that statement!


by 2blkpepper June 13, 2011 11:22 AM EDT: oh you stated jerome ersland shot a piece of crap ape!thats probaly what his mindset was. for a murder charge it would have to be one human killing another (unlawfully) premeditated or with malice.


by christoph415 June 13, 2011 5:40 PM EDT: Spiderxing, your post is EXACTLY RIGHT. There was NO NEED for him to come back and shoot a subdued person. He had the right to protect himeself with the original shot -- but coming back was nothing but pre-mediatated murder (revenge shooting).

by 2blkpepper June 12, 2011 7:32 PM EDT

we see that regardless of the law the mind set of humans.some humans are on the self-rightous angelic podium.that irregardless of what ever ills they contribute to society theyre always the victim.case and point jerome ersland commited murder in accordance with the law.(good vs evil)! some of us need to stop being a slave for evil.

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by 2blkpepper June 12, 2011 7:52 PM EDT: you are so blinded by the light. that you cant see the facts. you keep on indicating parker had a gun.just stick to the facts and what the law is that governs the facts!that way will have an impartial justice system!


by island843 June 7, 2011 3:43 PM EDT: I really think that this man had all the right to defend his property,his life and the life of others. We dont know what that person was going to do, after he was on the floor!!! was he going for his gun?. In the military I was taught to STOP the threat, whatever you had to do. This man did just that. Don't pull a gun on anybody, unless you are going to use it!!!The video was very clear, when this ROBBER came into this store!!!He wasn't coming in for gum!!!; Reply to this comment