Man serving life in prison indicted on third murder

Local Historic City News reporters learned that earlier today, a St. Johns County Grand Jury indicted a 44 year-old Hastings man with a third charge of murder in the March 1994 murder of Katherine Walker.

Ervin E. Cherry, 44, was indicted today. He is already serving life in prison for a 1993 murder of Wanda Robinson in St. Johns County and a 1994 murder of Christina Cooper in Putnam County.

Walker’s decomposed body was found on March 8, 1994 in a ditch adjacent to a large field in the 800 block of Federal Point Rd., in Hastings. At the time, Cherry who had been charged in the other two murders, denied involvement in the Walker homicide and the investigation continued.

The case was reviewed on several occasions since the murder; however, each time Cherry denied any connection to the crime.

In March of this year, detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation into the Walker homicide. Cherry was brought back to St. Johns County and interviewed. During the interview Cherry admitted that he strangled Walker after allegedly arguing over a drug deal.

The similarities of the three murders led detectives to believe that the same killer committed all three crimes — all three victims were black females who were strangled and their clothing was discarded in a remote and wooded area and all occurred within a four month time period.

Cherry left town and was arrested in Savannah, Georgia on charges of grand theft on February 21, 1994. He was subsequently charged with the two other murders, convicted and was sentenced to life in Florida prison in 1995.