Donna Marie Freeman

Case record: Donna Marie Freeman

Background

Donna Marie Freeman was of the Helena community at sentencing. She was 36 at the time of her March 13, 2014 sentencing and was described as a 33-year-old St. Martin woman at the time of her capital murder arrest.

Freeman had been romantically involved with Charles Mason and Mason had bought Freeman vehicles and other items. The state said Mason “took care of her,” and it said Freeman and Jeffrey Allen—described as Freeman’s new boyfriend—were at Mason’s home to borrow money the day he was killed.

Freeman’s attorney Arthur Carlisle told the court that Freeman “lived a pretty good life until she met the co-defendant in this case,” which he said was about two months prior to Mason’s death.

Freeman told the court she was married and said she had three sons—15, 17 and 18.

The offence

Charles Ike Mason Jr. owned Mason’s Junkyard on Hog Island in east Jackson County. He was shot to death inside his Helena home on March 2, 2011.

Freeman was charged in connection with Mason’s March 2, 2011 shooting death.

The state’s account at the time of arrests described Freeman shooting Mason one time in the back with a .22 caliber rifle, then taking “thousands of dollars and a cell phone” from him.

Freeman later told the judge, “I shot and killed Charles Mason.”

In a dispute described during the case, authorities said Freeman confessed to shooting Mason one time in the back, but she claimed Allen was holding a knife to her throat and made her shoot him. Authorities said Allen told investigators he was in a car outside the house when Freeman ran out to tell him that she shot Mason.

During a preliminary hearing in January, authorities said both Allen and Freeman agreed they were at Mason’s house to borrow money from the 86-year-old man. Authorities also said Allen took the .22 caliber rifle from Freeman and cocked it. Authorities said Allen and Freeman took $4,000 from Mason’s pocket and a cell phone, then drove to the bridge on Saracennia Road and tossed the rifle and the cell phone in the water. The rifle was recovered after Allen told investigators where to search. Investigators also claimed Freeman had a sexual relationship with Mason before she became involved with Allen.

Investigation

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said the scrap yard customer found Mason, the owner of Mason’s Junkyard on Hog Island, shot to death inside his Helena home.

At the time of Freeman’s arrest for capital murder, Byrd said Jackson County Sheriff’s investigators believed Freeman took an undisclosed amount of cash after shooting Mason one time in the back with some type of rifle. Byrd said Mason always walked around with cash in his pocket and that investigators believed Freeman took the money out of his left pocket after she shot him.

Byrd said investigators had DNA evidence in the case but declined to elaborate.

Investigators said detectives believe Freeman was an acquaintance of Mason for about two years.

Byrd said detectives interviewed more than 40 people who had a possible connection to the shooting death, including “convicted murderer Coda Lloyd Vice, who was cleared in April of suspicion in Mason’s death.”

Arrest

Freeman was arrested shortly after midnight on October 1, 2011 and charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Charles Ike Mason. Byrd said Freeman spent most of the early morning hours crying in her cell at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center.

Freeman was indicted as part of the 2011 shooting death case. Sheriff Mike Byrd said on July 13, 2012 that three people were indicted in connection to the March 2, 2011 shooting death of Charles Ike Mason Jr.

Freeman was served her indictment Friday at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center, where she was being held on the capital murder charge.

The indictment information included:

• Jeffery “Juice” Allen and Donna Marie Freeman were indicted for capital murder.
• Joshua Keith Davis was indicted for accessory after the fact.

In the same matter, Byrd said no further arrests or charges were expected in the case.

Earlier arrests mentioned included a burglary of a dwelling:

• Investigators first arrested Freeman on March 31 along with Jeffery Grey Allen (32) and Clinton Ellis George (31) on charges of burglarizing a dwelling.
• Freeman was accused in that case of luring away a homeowner in the Harleston community on March 15, while Allen and George broke into the victim’s home and stole property.
• All three were released on $5,000 in March.

Trial

Freeman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder related to the 2011 shooting death of 85-year-old Charles Ike Mason Jr. on March 13, 2014.

When Judge Robert Krebs asked Freeman why she thought she was guilty of second degree murder, Freeman said simply, “I shot and killed Charles Mason.”

Freeman also pleaded guilty to an unrelated burglary and was sentenced to serve an additional seven years after she finishes her time for murder.

Sentencing

On March 13, 2014, Judge Robert Krebs sentenced Freeman to 27 years in prison “day for day” for second-degree murder.

The state dropped Freeman’s capital murder charge in exchange for her guilty plea.

Judge Robert Krebs also sentenced Freeman to 25 years in prison—seven to serve and 18 years under post-release supervision (five of those reporting)—to run consecutive to the second-degree murder sentence in an unrelated burglary of a dwelling offense.

Freeman was ordered to pay court costs and a $1,000 fine in connection with the murder sentence. She was also ordered to pay court costs in both cases, be under supervision for five years after her release, pay $2,000 in fines, and never contact Mason’s family.

Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade said, “He took care of her,” outside court. Wade also said, “This has been a very difficult case,” is attributed to Freeman’s defense attorney Arthur Carlisle, and it was also stated that Freeman and Allen’s relationship involved jealousy and confrontation.

Defense attorney Arthur Carlisle asked the judge to follow the state’s recommendation of 27 years and said:

“This has been a very difficult case,” Carlisle said. “Ms. Freeman lived a pretty good life until she met the co-defendant in this case,” which he said was about two months prior to Mason's death.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence said Freeman’s sentence was fair and meant she was “being held accountable for taking the life of another human being.”

Lawrence said:

“If there was anybody ever under the spell of someone, Donna was under the spell of Jeffrey Allen,” he said outside court.
“There's no doubt in my mind,” he said.
“What she did that night, she did because I think he absolutely told her to and made her do it.”

Lawrence also said:

“The defendants ‘took advantage of Mr. Mason's generosity to satisfy their own greed,’ Lawrence said.”

Lawrence also said:

“This case is an example of how the mixture of guns and drugs can have a devastating effect on people's lives.”

The state dropped a possession of stolen property charge in exchange for the guilty plea.

Before sentencing, Freeman told several of Mason’s daughters she was “so sorry” for what she did and asked for forgiveness. Emotions were too high for one daughter, who “dashed out of the courtroom in tears as Freeman spoke.”

Mason’s family issued a statement during the proceedings, which Wade read aloud. The statement included:

“We will always live our lives never understanding that his life was taken by the defendant, Donna Freeman, a person that he constantly gave so much to,” it said.
“One thing about our father was that he helped everybody. Today, we will still walk out of here without a father, all simply for him giving to and helping others.”

Afterward, Krebs allowed Freeman’s mother to see her in private, and courthouse officials called for a wheelchair; Freeman’s mother was wheeled from the building.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Freeman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2011 killing of Charles Ike Mason Jr.

In exchange for her guilty plea, the state dropped her capital murder charge. The state also dropped a possession of stolen property charge in exchange for the guilty plea.

Freeman was sentenced on March 13, 2014 to 27 years in prison for second-degree murder and to an additional consecutive seven years for an unrelated burglary of a dwelling offense.

In the related co-defendant matter:

• Jeffrey Allen was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.
• Allen was also described as serving life without parole for capital murder.
• Allen later helped law officers find the murder weapon, which had been tossed in a waterway in east Jackson County.

Other details

Freeman was named with co-defendant Jeffrey Grey Allen in the March 2011 death of Mason.

At the time of indictment announcements, authorities said Freeman and Allen were at Mason’s home to borrow money, and witnesses said Mason had gotten fed up with Freeman and Allen and planned to cut off financial support to her.

It was stated that capital murder carries a maximum penalty of death by lethal injection, and life in prison without parole was another option.

Accessory after the fact carried a maximum of a $1,000 fine and a five-year sentence.

Freeman’s sentencing included restrictions including that she could not have contact with the victim’s family and was prohibited from contacting Mason’s family.