Suspect in 5-year-old girl’s killing had previous assault conviction in Texas, documents reveal

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - While Jackson police cite domestic violence as the motivation for Sunday’s killing of a five-year-old child, 3 On Your Side has uncovered another conviction in the same suspect’s past from a case that took place two states away.

“This is a traumatizing situation. That’s something she’s gonna have to live with all [her] life,” said Deputy Chief Deric Hearn.

Hearn talked about the mother whose disagreement with 25-year-old Robert Jackson led to a barrage of bullets that narrowly missed her but fatally wounded her five-year-old daughter, Mariyah Lacey.

Hearn said those bullets also missed two other children in the car.

3 On Your Side has learned the man police say fired those shots had been prohibited from even owning a gun months earlier.

WLBT dug into Jackson’s criminal record and found eighteen months ago that police in Texas charged him with assaulting a family member in another domestic violence case.

A judge put Jackson on one year of probation starting March 1st of last year, and even though he violated that probation four months later, it expired earlier this year, according to court documents.

Part of the terms of that probation included that Jackson could not possess a gun or ammunition.

Before that, a Hinds County grand jury indicted him for receiving a stolen car, but that case was remanded due to insufficient evidence.

“We’re frustrated, right. But that frustration isn’t laid at the feet of any individual or any agency alone. You know, I’ve often spoken about how there are gaps, and there are holes within our judicial process,” said Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. “We have to understand that this challenge is multi layered. Right? I wouldn’t, you know, I wouldn’t dare say, you know, it’s the sheriff or it’s the judges. I believe that we all have a responsibility in this. But we are all burdened by our circumstance. And we have to work to get creative.”

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