Fayetteville — A woman who killed a city worker in 2011 and collected three charges of driving while intoxicated this summer pleaded guilty to two of those counts Wednesday in Fayetteville District Court.
Jo Jackson, 54, of 4002 N. Zion Valley Drive was sentenced to nine months in the Washington County Detention Center and $2,240 in fines and fees. She previously pleaded not guilty to the remaining DWI charge and likely will face trial in the coming months.
The sentences are significantly more severe than most DWI deals, which typically bring a month or less jail time, said Casey Jones, prosecuting attorney. Jackson won’t be eligible for a program that cuts jail time in half with good behavior.
Jackson’s months-long series of arrests began June 10, when she was arrested at a Sonic Drive-In after hitting a trash can, according to an arrest report. Police found a wine bottle in her car, according to the report.
Jackson was again arrested Aug. 10, in connection with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license, reckless driving, no proof of insurance and violation of implied consent. A caller said a woman driving a white Toyota Sequoia hit multiple poles and ran into some shopping carts in the parking lot of Walmart, 3919 N. Mall Ave., according to police dispatch logs.
Jackson told police she drank half of a bottle of wine and took Hydrocodone and Ativan, according to the arrest report. Open containers of wine were again found in the vehicle.
She was given nine chances to take a breathalyzer, and was unable to give a sample.
Jackson was arrested Aug. 24 on Missouri Way, after an off-duty police officer saw her SUV driving erratically on North College Avenue. He saw Jackson swerve her southbound vehicle into the northbound lanes of traffic and stop before continuing southbound, according to the arrest report.
Police found a single-serving bottle of Sutter Home wine in the console, according to an arrest report. The 6-ounce bottle was open and half full.
Jackson failed a field sobriety test and registered .21 on a breath test, more than twice the legal limit of .08.
Jones had Jackson’s earlier bonds revoked after she collected the third DWI before appearing in court for the first. Bond was $20,000 and required Jackson wear an ankle monitor that detects alcohol and location.
Jackson had encountered law enforcement before. In 2011, she was convicted of negligent homicide and two counts of third-degree battery after hitting three men.
Jackie Luper of West Fork, Bradley Robbins, 34, of Farmington, and Bret Horn, 30, of Springdale were injured in September 2011 when Jackson drove into a construction zone in front of Butterfield Trail Village on Joyce Boulevard. Luper died the next day at Washington Regional Medical Center. Robbins and Horn were not seriously injured.
Jackson’s 12-year-old daughter was in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Afterward, Jackson was arrested in connection with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and other misdemeanors, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Zolpidem, a prescription sleeping medication, was found in her system, according to a toxicology report.
Jackson pleaded guilty the next year in Washington County Circuit Court to a misdemeanor version of negligent homicide and third-degree battery. She was sentenced to and served six months in the Washington County Detention Center and was given one year probation.
The misdemeanor negligent homicide charge didn’t contain a driving while intoxicated element, so she was never convicted of driving under the influence in that instance, Jones said.