A 23-year-old woman with a Vancouver address was arrested Monday boarding a Greyhound bus in Florida after members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force tracked her down in the fatal shooting of a Milwaukie businessman who owned a chain of pawn shops in the Portland area.
Nistasha R. Tate is the prime suspect in the killing of Jimmy A. Pearson, 63, said the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Pearson was found dead March 3 in his spacious riverfront property. He had been shot two days earlier, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Tate is being held without bail on charges of second-degree murder and robbery at a Hillsborough County jail, where she is awaiting extradition to Clackamas County.
The Sheriff’s Office did not disclose what connection Tate had to Pearson.
The Sheriff’s Office said a forensic analysis showed Tate had visited Pearson on the date he was killed. Separately, a routine traffic stop nearby placed Tate’s car in the area of Pearson’s home before his body was found. Sheriff’s investigators said they later found some of Pearson’s things in Tate’s car.
Oregon Secretary of State business records show Pearson owns A1 Hawk. The company website says the business operates two pawn shops in Portland and another in Gladstone.
Public records show Tate had a Vancouver address. She does not appear to have a criminal record as an adult in Washington or Oregon.
In 2017, she was cited for driving without a license. At that time, she had a Beaverton address.
On top of Tate’s Facebook page, her photograph accompanies text that says “Work while they sleep. Learn while they party. Save while they spend.”
Tate, who appears to have at least three facial tattoos, posted most recently on Feb. 27, days before Pearson was shot. She posted a photograph of herself and wrote, “I Sleep well Knowing I never done No sucka (expletive) to be Accepted.”
According to her Linkedin page, she attended Heritage High School and worked at the Acropolis strip club in 2018 and lists herself as an “independent contractor” at another Portland club.
