Jackson man pleads guilty in fiancee's fatal campus shooting

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) — A Jackson man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the 2014 fatal shooting of his fiancee on the campus of Union University.

Twenty-two-year-old Charles Pittman pleaded guilty Thursday in Madison County Circuit Court in the death of 21-year-old Olivia Greenlee, The Jackson Sun reports (http://bit.ly/1Edltas).

Greenlee was found dead of a gunshot wound in her car on campus in February 2014. Both she and Pittman were students at the university.

Authorities say Pittman shot Greenlee and then staged the scene to look like a suicide.

Pittman's plea agreement requires that he serve 40 years in prison on the murder charge. The tampering with evidence sentence will run concurrent with the murder sentence.

Pittman's attorney, public defender George Googe, says Pittman will be eligible for a 15 percent reduction in his sentence for good behavior.

"It is a lot of time to have to serve, but it's a serious case and there's a lot of evidence," Googe said.

Pittman was originally charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. His case had been expected to go to trial in November.

Roger Wright, a victim advocate for Greenlee's family, read a statement in court on behalf of the family.

"We agree to the terms of the plea agreement in order to bring healing to our grief-stricken family and to others impacted by the crimes of Mr. Pittman," Wright said.

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