Seabrook man accused in 2019 murder of a 70-year-old woman in Beaufort pleads guilty
A man accused of killing an elderly Beaufort woman in 2019 pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 43 years in prison Monday, according to a news release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Jermaine Lemonte Thurston, 46, of Seabrook, South Carolina, was charged with murder on Oct. 24, 2019, following the death of 70-year-old Theresa Coker.
Coker’s body was found on Oct. 9, 2019, by a property manager for the Polk Street home where she had only been living for about a month before her death, according to previous reporting by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. Someone had gone through Coker’s purse and jewelry and her car, found a day after her body had been discovered, was abandoned about a mile from Thurston’s mother’s home in Seabrook.
An autopsy report from the time of her death concluded Coker died from blunt-force trauma and strangulation.
Neighbors told investigators that Coker had complained that she was being “harassed” by a man asking to do her yard work and that they later saw that man in her yard, according to the news release. In the days before her murder, neighbors said they saw Thurston walking around near Polk Street.
One neighbor said Thurston was trying to sell jewelry in the area after Coker’s death and Corker’s her daughter identified jewelry Thurston had given to his girlfriend as belonging to her mother, police said. His DNA was found on a cigarette butt in Coker’s abandoned car and at the home, and on a mop near her body and on the curtains in the home, officials said in the news release.
Hunter Swanson, a prosecutor with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said in the press release that Thurston had “a penchant for violence that has only escalated.” His previous convictions include various assault and battery, armed robbery, domestic violence and burglary charges.
“Nothing is more despicable than brutalizing a vulnerable person who trusted you. Mr. Thurston’s conviction is a measure of justice for Theresa Coker and a measure of safety for our community,” Swanson said.
Judge Robert Bonds handed down the sentence.
Thurston’s attorney, Juan Tolley, could not immediately be reached for comment.
As of Tuesday, Thurston remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center.
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MOREWhy we did this story:
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers are making an effort to update stories we’ve published where criminal charges were filed. Criminal charges mean law enforcement had probable cause to arrest someone, but a court decides on a person’s guilt and conviction. If our newspaper has written about a crime where charges were brought, we want to use public records to show what happened in that case. If you think a crime story featuring you or someone you know needs updating, email Sofia Sanchez at ssanchez@islandpacket.com or newsroom@islandpacket.com.
