Prosecutor: Son Alexander Jackson, not intruder, killed entire family

CEDAR RAPIDS — What police officers responded in summer 2021 to a 911 call about an intruder breaking into a house, what they found there “was not what they expected,” a prosecutor said Friday in opening the murder case against Alexander Jackson.

When officers arrived about 8:31 a.m. June 15, 2021, at 4414 Oak Leaf Ct. NE. in Cedar Rapids, they didn’t find any forced entry or signs of a struggle and things seemed to be in place, Assistant Linn County Attorney Jordan Schier said.

When three officers entered the back basement door, they saw Jan Jackson, 61, on the floor near a sofa with blood on his mouth and body. They realized he was dead.

His son, Alexander Jackson, 20 at the time, who had made the 911 call, was down the hallway and had a shotgun injury to his foot, Schier said. He told a dispatcher the intruder shot him, and eventually said his mother, sister and father were in the house.

Schier said the story had inconsistencies from the start.

The dispatcher asked him more than once to describe the intruder who has shot him. Alex could describe him only as a Black man, wearing black clothing and green shoes.

The officers not only found Jan dead, but also his wife, Melissa, 68, and their daughter, Sabrina, 19, in separate bedrooms with gunshot injuries. All were dead.

Evidence, Schier said, would show the “only person responsible” for the three fatal shootings is Alexander Jackson. He shot them multiple times, the prosecutor said — some at close range with a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle found in the house.

Jackson is on trial this week in Cedar Rapids for three counts of first-degree murder. Jury selection started Tuesday and a jury was selected late Thursday. The trial is expected to last nine days.

Schier said there is no evidence showing anyone else besides the family was the house that early morning. Surveillance video from doorbell cameras at the front and back of the house don’t show any “phantom” intruder, he said.

Police did find numerous shell casings in the house from the “unique” Browning rifle that can fire 11 bullets without having to reload, Schier said. Jackson told police he and his dad were cleaning it the night before.

Sister Sabrina Jackson was shot in the chest, her arm and her face — the bullet went into one of her eyes. It was at close range. Father Jan Jackson was shot five times in the head, neck and stomach. Mother Melissa Jackson was shot twice in the head, at close range.

Alexander Jackson said he didn’t hear anything because he was sleeping outside on the sunporch with the dog, Schier said.

He said he struggled with the intruder, but the only fingerprints and palm prints on the gun were his, Schier noted. They were clear prints without smudges — which one might expect in a struggle.

Lindsay Garner, one of Jackson’s attorneys, said in her opening statements that the defendant was in shock, having just seen his father in a “pool of blood” and having been shot in the foot himself. He was heavily medicated with fentanyl when police investigators started “interrogating” him at the hospital, she told jurors.

Officers “wasted no time” making him the suspect, but Jackson never wavered in telling them that someone broke in the home and that he didn’t harm his family, Garner said.

He and his family were close and enjoyed spending time together, she said. They watched movies together. That’s what they were doing the night before — having dinner and watching movies.

Garner said Jackson was close with his dad. They played video games and went to the shooting range. They cleaned the rifle the night before because they were going to the range the next day.

At the hospital, police read Jackson his Miranda rights and questioned him for the next six hours, Garner said.

Jackson told them he was sleeping on the porch. He heard multiple gun shots and went downstairs. He saw a man near his father, who was on the floor, and they struggled over the rifle. The intruder shots Alexander Jackson in the foot, his lawyer said.

Jackson was able to get hold of the gun and the intruder ran out the backdoor, Garner said. Jackson then crawled to his bedroom to get a tourniquet for his foot and called 911.

Garner told jurors police didn’t do their job and didn’t look for any other suspect. They didn’t find blood on Jackson, except his own. Nor was there blood found on the gun or on the muzzle. Police didn’t test for DNA on shell casings, she said.

An officer and a police dog didn’t search the entire house, and the surveillance cameras didn’t show the entire yard.

Garner said this was a “tragedy,” but told jurors they shouldn’t “compound” it by convicting the wrong person.

Neighbors of the Jackson family testified they were acquainted with the family but were least familiar with Alexander Jackson. They never saw anything unusual about the family and didn’t see or hear anything unusual the day of the shootings.

The 911 call Jackson made also was played for the jury. He cries and grunts during the call. He doesn’t describe the intruder except that say it's a Black man with dark clothing.

Cedar Rapids Police K-9 Officer Curt Buckles, one of the first officers on the scene, testified Friday and video from his body camera was played for the jury. It showed officers when they first entered the house and found the bodies.

Buckles’ dog, Korsa, was used to search around the house and area to see if she could pick up the intruder’s track, but she didn’t alert in the area.

Tyler Johnston, another of Jackson’s lawyers, grilled Buckles on his search and tracking and attempted to discredit him and Korsa. He said the dog seemed to be struggling in the heat, and said Buckles didn’t spend enough time on the search.

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