How a suburban affair in Georgia led to murder

Kay Parsons was a devoted mother whose life would end in shocking violence.

The 41-year-old Georgia mom of one had just dropped off her son at school on March 25, 2009, when she was found severely beaten in her garage at her home in Grovetown. She would succumb to her injuries the following day, sparking a suburban homicide investigation that would rock their community.

A new "20/20" episode, "Murder Next Door," airing Friday, May 15, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu, examines the case. 

You can also get more behind-the-scenes of each week's episode by listening to "20/20: The After Show" weekly series right on your 20/20 podcast feed on Mondays, hosted by "20/20" co-anchor Deborah Roberts.

Searching the scene of the crime, authorities found the primary bedroom of Parsons' home ransacked, jewelry missing and two discarded, bloody murder weapons in the garage -- a hammer and a baseball bat.

"There was a blood trail that went from the glass door. The further you went into the residence, the heavier the blood trail got," said Thomas Harper, a now-retired Columbia County Sheriff's Office Staff Sergeant who spoke with "20/20" correspondent Ryan Smith about first responding to the family home. "That blood trail was telling me this is going to be bad."

Jimmy Edmunds, the lead investigator for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, told "20/20" in an exclusive new interview that the crime scene appeared especially violent.

"I've been in law enforcement for 30 years and this is probably one of the worst scenes I've ever seen," Edmunds said.

Around the same time as the attack on Parsons, authorities received a report that the home of her neighbor, Becky Sears, had also been burglarized in a manner similar to Parsons' home.

Sears, a mother of five, was described as being best friends with Parsons after the two bonded through their children's Little League and had even vacationed together.

"They did everything together, work, home, all of it," Jessica Lundy, who knew Becky Sears, told "20/20."

The day after Parsons was attacked and following the burglary at Sears' home, Sears called 911 to report that she was shot in the leg by a man in dark clothing and a white cap, as she was leaving Healing Hands, the physical therapy center where she worked. Becky Sears had helped Kay Parsons get hired there.

"He chased me back to the door and he shot me," Sears told the 911 operator about the attack. "He said if he didn't get his money, the next time he was gonna ... It would be my face."

Authorities began investigating the crimes seemingly targeting Sears and discovered a bombshell -- she was having an affair with Parsons' husband, David.

When questioned by police, David Parsons, who was in California at the time of his wife's attack, admitted to the affair.

Investigators searched Sears' workplace and found love letters between the two in Sears' desk alongside lingerie. Sears and David Parsons engaged in phone sex the night before Kay Parsons was attacked, investigators also discovered.

David Parsons told authorities that his wife knew about the affair after Sears told her husband, who then told Kay.

"Kay found out and she knew about it, we talked about it. We were going to work through it ... and we were going to stay together," David Parsons told police when questioned.

David Parsons was dismissed as a suspect after he passed a polygraph test, per authorities.

"I dismissed him as a suspect because I had no evidence to point that he knew anything about it, planned anything with it, and he was not here," Jimmy Edmunds, the lead investigator, said.

Authorities grilled Sears on the murder, where she confessed staging the robberies with her son, Christopher Bowers. Sears told police that her son killed Kay Parsons to get her out of the way to make Sears happy.

Sears told police that the man who shot her while leaving Healing Hands was also Bowers. Sears claimed it was another staged incident planned by her and her son, but Bowers has never acknowledged being part of this plan.

Investigators believed Sears had orchestrated the murder in order to be with David Parsons.

Originally a death penalty case, the mother-son duo ultimately pleaded guilty in 2012 to malice murder, felony murder, burglary and armed robbery, receiving life in prison without the possibility of parole.