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Live coverage of Alexander Jackson sentencing

Mar. 3, 2023 1:30 pm
Danielle Jackson-Parsons (left) and Kay Jackson (right) read a statement on behalf of relatives of the Jackson family following the trial of Alexander Jackson at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Jackson was convicted on three counts of murder in the first degree. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Alexander Jackson, 22, was convicted for three first-degree murder charges for what a prosecutor called the “execution” of his father, mother and 19-year-old sister on June 15, 2021.
Jackson fatally shot his father Jan Jackson, 61, mother Melissa Jackson, 68, and sister Sabrina, 19, in their northeast Cedar Rapids home.
The jury heard six days of testimony and deliberated about five and a half-hours before reaching the guilty verdicts.
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According to testimony, Jackson made a 911 call on June 15, 2021, saying somebody broke into the house, 4414 Oak Leaf Ct. NE, and shot him in the foot and another family member was also shot. He could only describe the intruder as a “Black man in black clothing and green shoes.”
Police found no forced entry and nothing was stolen or out of place in the home, according to testimony. Officers found Jan in the lower level with five gunshot wounds, Melissa was in the master bedroom with three gunshot wounds, and Sabrina was in her lower level bedroom, next to Alexander’s room, with two gunshot injuries.
A medical examiner said they each died from multiple gunshot wounds. Melissa Jackson was shot in the eye at close range.
Jackson never admitted to police he killed his family. He was interviewed for several hours at the hospital while being treated for the gunshot to his left foot but continued to blame the alleged intruder.
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