Witnesses testify in 1984 Whitfield County murder trial

WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) — On the first day of testimony for the murder trial of Jay Burlison, witnesses and surviving victims took the stand.

Burlison is accused of shooting and killing Ernest Griffin at a Whitfield County convenience store in 1984. He also faces two counts of aggravated assault.

Investigators had been looking for Burlison since the incident. After nearly 34 years, Burlison was found in July in Tennessee. Ronald Harris, the clerk who was there the day of the shooting, is now serving a life prison sentence for child rape in Ohio. He was transported to Georgia to testify on Tuesday. Harris told the jury he called 911 and says Burlison pointed a gun at him.

“I am not going to lie to you, I was frightened. I remember that. I was scared,” Harris said.

“Were you fearful he might shoot you?” Bert Poston, the District Attorney in Whitfield County asked.

“Yeah, I was,” Harris said.

Prosecutors say Burlison’s ex-wife, Mary Mealer, witnessed the incident and was also shot several times. Mealer says she and Burlison were going through a divorce at the time.

“He always said before I get a divorce, I would be a dead woman,” Mealer said.

She described to the jury what she remembered of that night in 1984. She says it was hard not knowing where Burlison was after the shooting.

“It was just awful. It was a bad way to live,” she said.

Several different people also testified, including a medical examiner, detectives and Griffin’s son.

The trial will continue on Wednesday.