09/12/2025
THE LESTER STREET MASSACRE: SIX FAMILY MEMBERS SLAUGHTERED, THREE CHILDREN LEFT FOR DEAD
THE MURDERS AT 722 LESTER STREET, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE â MARCH 2, 2008
March 2, 2008 â a 911 call filled with panic and terror sent Memphis police racing to 722 Lester Street. What they found inside that small brick home would become one of the most horrifying mass murders in Tennessee history. Even veteran officers wept at the scene.
Nine victims were inside.
Six were already gone.
Three small children â all under five â were barely clinging to life.
THE SIX WHO NEVER MADE IT OUT:
⢠Cecil Dotson, 30 â shot in the legs, chest, neck, and head
⢠Marissa Williams, 27 â shot five times
⢠Hollis Seals, 33 â shot three times
⢠Shindri Robinson, 22 â shot four times
⢠Cemario Dotson, 4 â stabbed in the chest and beaten
⢠Cecil âLittle Juniorâ Dotson II, 2 â stabbed seven times, including multiple stab wounds to his head
THE THREE SURVIVORS:
In the back bedrooms, police discovered the unimaginable â three children still alive, maimed but breathing:
⢠CJ, 9 â hiding in a bathtub with a 4½-inch blade lodged in his skull
⢠Cedric, 5 â stabbed repeatedly
⢠Ceniyah, 2 months â stabbed and fighting for her life
All three survived. The miracle of Lester Street.
But the truth of what happened came from CJ, once he woke from surgery. When detectives asked who hurt him, he whispered the name of the killer:
âJunior.â
Junior was Jessie Dotson â Cecilâs brother.
The same man sitting in protective custody with the rest of the family while police scrambled for answers.
THE KILLER IN THE FAMILY:
Jessie Dotson was no stranger to violence. In 1994, he pled guilty to second-degree murder in a drug-related shooting. He served time, was paroled in 2007, and his parole ended just weeks before the massacre.
Less than 90 days later, he slaughtered his own family inside that house.
THE TRIAL & SENTENCING:
A jury took less than 90 minutes to convict him on six counts of first-degree murder. Jessie Dotson was sentenced to death plus 120 years. His ex*****on was set for March 2, 2012, but appeals have kept the sentence from being carried out. He recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for post-conviction relief.
Six lives stolen.
Three children forced to survive the unthinkable.
A family shattered forever.
The Lester Street Massacre remains one of the darkest crimes in Memphis history â not because strangers broke in, but because the monster lived within the family itself.