Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office News Release • January 4, 2024 • Lt. K. Suthard, PIO
(Wentworth, NC) – Rockingham County Sheriff’s Investigators have charged MATTHEW ISAAC PEARMAN, age 38, of Edgefield Rd. Greensboro, N.C. with Second-Degree Murder and Murder of an Unborn Child.
On March 12, 2023, Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a suspected overdose on Middleton Rd. in Stokesdale, N.C. Upon the Deputies’ arrival, they discovered Jessica Nicole Loman, 31, deceased. Jessica was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.
In mid-December 2023, Detective Ryan Burns, lead investigator on the case, received the official cause of death for Jessica from the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office, which had been determined to be Acute Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Toxicity.
Upon receiving these findings and consulting with the Rockingham County District Attorney’s Office, Detective Burns charged MATTHEW ISAAC PEARMAN with Second Degree Murder and Murder of an Unborn Child. PEARMAN is believed to have given Jessica, who was his girlfriend at the time, the drugs that killed her and her unborn child.
PEARMAN was placed in the Rockingham County Detention Facility under NO BOND and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 9th.
“This is a tragic situation,” said Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. “Jessica had her whole life ahead of her, and her unborn child didn’t even get a chance at life. So, let this be a warning for any would-be drug dealer distributing this poison in Rockingham County. If someone dies and we determine that the drugs came from you, you will be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent. I want to thank Detective Ryan Burns, Rockingham County District Attorney Jason Ramey’s Office, and the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office for all of their hard work in this investigation.”
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