Johnston County man charged with murder of 2-year-old child
Already in jail for a child-abuse charge, a Johnston County man now faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of a 2-year-old child.
Lance Nolan Pearce was charged Monday in the death of Jensen Scott Jackson, Chief Deputy Jeffrey Caldwell of the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Jensen was hospitalized at WakeMed early Friday morning with severe head trauma and bruising around his body, Caldwell wrote. EMS had been called to the toddler’s home on Cleveland Road on Thursday evening in response to a 911 call reporting he was having a seizure.
The Johnston County Department of Social Services also conducted a welfare check at the home and removed two children, ages 2 and 3, to be evaluated at WakeMed, Caldwell wrote.
After detectives spoke to Pearce and searched the home, Pearce was charged with intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and held under a $500,000 bail.
Jensen died from his injuries on Sunday, and Pearce was charged with murder Monday.
Pearce is the boyfriend of Jensen’s mother, Kayla Michelle Blue, the news release stated.
Blue wrote about Jensen in a public Facebook post Monday afternoon, saying he loved his brothers and cuddling with her on the couch and was “more fascinated by the screws and how stuff was put together rather than the actual toy.”
“His favorite things were his ABCs and numbers,” she wrote. “Anytime that [the] TV played any kind of numbers, he would be fixed on it.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Johnston County man charged with murder of 2-year-old child."
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