A Macon woman has been in jail 7 years awaiting trial in her boyfriend’s death. Here’s why:
The murder case against Donna Elyse Jackson, accused of shooting her boyfriend to death during a confrontation in their home seven years ago, will finally be heard by a Bibb County jury this week.
There are numerous reasons Jackson’s case has taken so long to reach trial.
Chief among them is the state of Jackson’s mental health.
Her most recent lawyer has argued that Jackson is not competent to stand trial because she suffers from a delusional disorder.
A jury, however, concluded on Oct. 7 that she is legally competent, capable of assisting her lawyer in preparing her defense against prosecutors’ claims that she murdered Ricky Smith, shooting and killing him in the wee hours of Sept. 5, 2015.
On Monday in Bibb Superior Court, Jackson, 52, turned down a voluntary manslaughter plea that would have resulted in a sentence of 20 years in prison.
She has maintained she shot Smith in an act of self-defense.
During Monday’s hearing where she passed up the plea, Jackson was adamant about an unsubstantiated claim that prosecutors have not have shared all of their evidence against her, saying, “This is my life.”
If found guilty of murder at trial this week, she faces, at minimum, a life sentence — at least 30 years in prison before she would be eligible for parole — and a maximum of life without parole.
During her seven years in the county lockup, Jackson has waited out the coronavirus pandemic and endured other delays, many due to her own legal wranglings, as her case plodded toward trial.
Her bond was once set at $100,000 and later reduced to $60,000, but she was unable to post it. For reasons not noted in court filings, her bond was revoked in 2018.
The shooting that led to her arrest happened at about 1 a.m. at a house at 1132 Macon Ave., about a block and a half south of Napier Avenue and the old Napier Square shopping plaza.
At a hearing soon after the shooting, Jackson’s first attorney said Smith, 53, had become “agitated” while he and Jackson were at a local lounge and that Smith was still “angry” when they arrived home on Macon Avenue.
Jackson had been dating Smith, a construction worker who helped paint and build houses, for a couple of years.
Her lawyer said that after the couple arrived home the night of the shooting, Smith picked up a pair of knives in their kitchen and “chased” Jackson.
The lawyer said Jackson called 911 and reported the confrontation and that Smith, later, became angry again because Jackson had told the 911 operator his name.
Jackson’s lawyer went on to say at that initial hearing that Jackson “did everything she was supposed to do ... to protect herself. ... She obviously was not going to stand there and allow him to stab her, which he said he was going to do.”
As the confrontation wore on, Jackson called 911 a second time and said Smith had lunged at her with knives in each hand and that she had shot him.
Prosecutors have cited inconsistencies in Jackson’s account of the shooting. They also allege that Jackson staged the scene to make it appear the shooting was an act of self-defense.
Smith’s body was found with two knives under each of his arms, though Jackson’s fingerprints were not found on the knives.
Testimony in Jackson’s murder trial was expected to begin Tuesday.
Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 6:50 AM.