Isaac Jackson will not be put to death for the 2010 murder of his ex-girlfriend, a Lee County jury decided Thursday. Instead, he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jackson was found guilty last week before the trial entered its punishment phase. The state had been actively seeking the death penalty for Jackson.
WRAL reported in 2010 that Jackson, of Fayetteville, came to the Mahogony Court home of Griffin, his ex-girlfriend of eight years, and shot her to death as her 15-year-old son pleaded with him not to.
Jackson was defended by Bob Trinkle of Chatham County and Fred Webb of Sanford. Assistant District Attorneys Mike Beam and Matt Craven led the prosecution.
In 2014, the Sanford Herald reported (subscription required) that the case was one of two in Lee County with the longest wait to go to trial. Beginning with jury selection in April, the case took just over two months to try.
In this video about the shooting from 2010, WRAL reports that Jackson was convicted of manslaughter in 1998 after “accidentally shooting his 17-year-old brother.”
If the state would stop seeking the death penalty for every murder, jury selection would take less time and the prosecution would cost the taxpayers much less