Macon woman found guilty of boyfriend’s murder, faces life sentence without parole

Donna Jackson was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday after a Bibb County jury found her guilty of murdering her boyfriend.

The conviction came seven years after Jackson, 52, shot and killed her boyfriend Ricky Smith, 53, at their Macon residence on Sept. 5, 2015.

Her trial was long delayed due to the pandemic and Jackson’s mental health.

The jury deliberated for about two and a half hours Friday afternoon before returning with a verdict, ending the weeklong trial in Bibb County Superior Court.

They found Jackson guilty on all four counts of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The felony murder count was vacated and aggravated assault count merged with malice murder.

Judge David L. Mincey, III sentenced Jackson to serve life in prison without parole for the malice murder count and an additional consecutive five years in prison for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Smith’s family declined to give a victim impact statement, but Assistant District Attorney Dawn Baskin spoke on their behalf during the sentencing hearing.

“On behalf of the family that has been waiting seven years, and has I think at times lost faith in the criminal justice system and thought that perhaps their loved one was forgotten – I know the jury is not here – but I have to tell them thank you,” said Baskin. “The wheels of justice can move painfully slow, but they moved correctly in this one.

“Donna Jackson didn’t shed a tear when the pictures of the man that she loved were shown with him dead. She didn’t shed a tear about the blood on the walls. The only time that I saw any emotion out of Donna Jackson is when she was watching her performance in [her police interrogation footage] … With the mindset that Donna Jackson has, Donna Jackson could kill again and feel completely justified in doing it.”

Jackson’s attorney Gregory L. Bushway recommended the defendant get life with parole since she had no prior criminal record and had never been arrested before the 2015 murder.

“The verdict finding Jackson guilty of malice murder says to me that the jury was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a design and a scheme of this 911 call and setting all of that up in a depraved manner,” Mincey said, addressing Jackson. “Meaning that all of your testimony about what you say happened was disbelieved. As such I have to agree with Baskin that someone that could do that could certainly do that again.”

Jackson declined to make a statement during the sentencing hearing.

This story was originally published October 22, 2022 at 9:00 AM.