GUILTY TN - Jeffrey Nelson, 57, murdered in his Jackson home, 12 July 2014

Jeffrey Nelson strived to improve the quality of life for people in West Tennessee, particularly the elderly, friends said.

Nelson served as the president of the Inter-Agency Council, helping provide services for senior citizens, said Anita Roark, director of patient and physician satisfaction at West Tennessee Healthcare. He also helped bring the Century Plus Club to Jackson, which celebrates people who have lived at least 100 years.

"He just had that love for people, and he wanted them to get everything that they possibly needed that would improve their quality of life," Roark said. "And that was just Jeff."

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The sister of a man accused of killing his father testified Thursday morning in Jackson City Court that the father and son had a good relationship. Victoria Nelson, Clayton Nelson's sister, testified that, "There was a great relationship between them. My father cared deeply for Clayton."

Clayton Nelson, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the beating and stabbing death of his father, 57-year-old Jeffrey Nelson, inside Jeffrey Nelson's duplex at 809 Westwood Ave. After Thursday's preliminary hearing, Jackson City Court Judge Blake Anderson sent the case to the grand jury.

Victoria Clayton said that whenever he could, Jeffrey Nelson would help his son out of any situation he was in. But in May 2014, Jeffrey Nelson became upset with some behaviors Clayton Nelson was showing and wanted to kick him out of the house.

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Police say it was a call of concern from Clayton back in July that sent them to Jeffrey Nelson's west Jackson duplex. Police found him fatally beaten. "He had blunt force trauma to his skull as well as a gaping large avulsion to his neck which was partial decapitation," said Rita McCoy, an employee at the Madison County medical examiner's office.

At the time of his father's death, Clayton lived next door. His sister said that made their father uncomfortable. "[He] double-checked all the locks on the doors, checking all the different entrances to the house anytime we came in and out of the home." she said.

Investigators believe a bloody shoe print links Nelson to the crime scene. "Based off the wear impression of the footprint and based off the size and make, I believe the shoe worn was the same shoe that made the footprint in blood at the crime scene," said Investigator Marvin Robish with the Jackson Police Department.

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Clayton Nelson was sentenced to 35 years on Monday after he pleaded guilty to beating and stabbing his father to death in 2014.

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