JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News has learned that the local rapper accused of trying to kill a New York police officer avoided arrest multiple times in Duval County by giving officers a fake identity.
After the shooting of the NYPD officer in 1999, the state of New York issued an arrest warrant for Lester Pearson, 43, for attempted murder.
RELATED>> NYPD commissioner thanks JSO for capturing Jax rapper accused of attempted murder of police officer
With police unable to locate him, Pearson eventually moved to Northwest Jacksonville where a source told FCN he used his cousin's identity "Michael Davis" to avoid arrest.
One of the run-ins with police happened with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in 2016. According to police, Pearson, who was going by his cousin's name, Davis, shot and killed 26-year-old Sergio Cox when Cox reportedly invaded Person's home.
Above: Sergio Cox
Pearson was reportedly able to convince police his name was Michael Davis and avoided any questioning. Although, at the time, he was wanted out of several states for violence against police officers.
After an investigation by JSO and the State Attorney Office, Pearson was never charged for shooting and killing Cox because the action was considered justified. Pearson's identity was never investigated or confirmed by police because JSO tells First Coast News it is not typical for JSO to fingerprint victims of crimes to verify their identity.
Since Pearson's March 15 arrest at his Jacksonville home, the shooting investigation has been reopened.
JSO released a statement into the incident and investigation that read in part:
...Since the arrest and capture of Lester Pearson (aka: “Michael Davis”) for outstanding warrants in other states, it has been learned that he was in fact the same victim referred to as “Michael Davis” involved in the 2016 home invasion. As a result of Pearson’s capture, JSO is currently re-evaluating the 2016 case to ascertain if any further information can be obtained.
The shooting of Sergio Cox was not Pearson's only run-in with the law after his alleged NYPD shooting. He was issued a ticket in November 2017 for an expired driver's license. A fingerprint was taken, but was never run through the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).
Not running a fingerprint through IAFIS is normal during a traffic stop, according to a law enforcement source, as a fingerprint is taken just for identification for the ticket-- not for background searches.
But Pearson had run-ins with the law in Jacksonville even before the 1999 shooting in New York. His criminal history with JSO dates back decades. In 1996 he was found guilty of making threats and resisting a police officer. He was also arrested for aggravated battery in 1996, but the charges were dropped.
The early arrests indicate he was in Jacksonville long before New York and was already known to law enforcement.
Jacqueline Rhodes, the mother of the Sergio Cox, the alleged home invasion suspect Pearson shot to death in 2016, says she is still pursuing justice for her other son Lucky, who was also at Pearson's home that night.
She claims her sons are innocent and that it wasn't a home invasion at all, but rather, a "murder" of Sergio.
The deadly shooting of her son was ruled justified by the state attorney’s office, though, and she says her other son Lucky has been in jail ever since.
She is taking his case to trial in April.
"I haven't been able to mourn my son's death because I'm trying to save my other son's life," said Rhodes.