Accused serial killer Aeman Presley pleads not guilty to murder in one of four killings

A man who allegedly killed three men while they slept outside and shot a woman on her way home from dinner originally set out to rob his victims but was overcome with 'bloodlust,' according to a statement filed in court.

Aeman Presley, 34, faces charges for the killing of two homeless men in Atlanta, another man sleeping outdoors in DeKalb County and a hairdresser in a parking garage in Decatur.

Presley is set to appear in front of a DeKalb County judge today and district attoeys in both DeKalb County and Fulton County have said they will seek the death penalty.

Bloodlust: Aeman Presley (center), 34, who allegedly killed four people had originally set out to rob his victims but was overcome with 'bloodlust' after killing the first man

An investigator for the Fulton County district attoey's office detailed Presley's slide and eventual tu to violence in court documents.

The man had taken a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Atlanta last May 'hoping to rejuvenate his beleaguered acting career,' according to a swo statement by the investigator.

At first, Presley settled into a homeless shelter in Atlanta and worked small food service jobs, but when his money ran low, he bought a Taurus .45 revolver 'on the street' to use in robberies, the statement said.

On September 26, Presley took a bus to DeKalb County with the intent of finding people to rob, according to documents filed in court.

He came upon 53-year-old Calvin Gholston sleeping beneath a shopping center breezeway, firing three shots that killed him, the statement said.

That incident produced 'a self-described adrenaline fueled high,' according to the statement. 'This high manifested into a "bloodlust" which compelled Presley to commit two more murders in Fulton County.'

Targeted: After Presley killed Calvin Gholston (left), 53, he felt a 'self-described adrenaline fueled high' and went on to shoot Dorian Jenkins (right), 42, while he slept on the sidewalk in November

 

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Tragic: 68-year-old Tommy Mims (left) was shot while sleeping under a railway bridge while 44-year-old Karen Pearce (right) was killed in a parking garage on her way home from dinner

Having apparently abandoned plans for robbing strangers, Presley found Dorian Jenkins, 42, sleeping on a sidewalk under several blankets and killed him on November 23, the statement said.

 

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Wanted: After killing Pearce, Presley said he decided he did not want to continue killing and tried to go back to a career in acting, before getting arrested for jumping a tustile

A few days later, he killed 68-year-old Tommy Mims as he slept under a railway bridge, later coming across two other homeless men he considered killing before deciding it would be too risky, according to the statement.

'Since he was "getting off on killing people," he wanted to kill them, too,' the statement said. 'He decided, however, that doing so would increase his chances of apprehension.'

He instead tued around and went back to where he shot Mims, believing he had not killed him, and shot him twice more in the head, according to the statement.

Presley was in Decatur on December 6 and found 44-year-old Karen Pearce walking alone on her way back from dinner with friends.

He ordered her to hand over her wallet at gunpoint, which she did, though Presley still shot her once in the chest, killing her, according to the statement.

After Pearce died, Presley said he didn't have the same feeling of adrenaline, and later told investigators he had never wanted to kill a woman. 

He then tried to retu to acting, and was on his way to get headshots taken on December 11 when he was arrested for going through a train station tustile without paying.

During an hours-long interview by Atlanta police detective David Quinn, Presley said he didn't think he was 'a biologically malevolent person.'

Some events of his life, including his father's early death and mother's illness contributed to a 'murderous spirit,' along with, Presley said, membership in Chicago's Gangster Disciples and rap lyrics.