ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – More than five and a half years after her son was killed, Jackie Pruitt showed up in St. Johns County to talk about the arrest that was made in her son's death a few weeks ago.
Clark McWhorter (pictured below), 31, was on the board of unsolved killings in St. Johns County for years until June, when detectives got a tip and arrested 34-year-old Phillip Pomper in connection with his death. McWhorter was found shot to death in the road on Coastal Highway in Guana State Park in January 2007.
"It has been horrible to not have the knowledge that whoever did this was getting justice," Pruitt said. "And my Christian self shouldn't wish for that. I should just pray for whoever did it, but my human self prayed for justice."
Investigators say Pomper (pictured below) was turned in by a woman he was dating. They said Pomper had been abusing that woman's daughter, and she contacted police about him.
"She also heard rumors of the homicide and a previous girlfriend was involved, and they got together and decided to call (the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office) and then got in touch with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office," St. Johns County Undersheriff Joel Bolante said.
Pruitt said she has found peace since the arrest. She's no longer under stress. In fact, she said her blood pressure has gone down since Pomper was taken into custody.
Now she can move on, but she'll never stop missing her son.
"I thought where my Clark had been today, what would he have been doing?" Pruitt said. "What would my little grandbabies from Clark look like? That, I'll never know."
But she at least knows the man investigators say killed her son will face justice.