FAYETTEVILLE -- A man who fatally shot a woman in the head at her Springdale apartment two years ago pleaded guilty Monday in Washington County Circuit Court.
Emily Nash, 28, was found dead May 27, 2015, at 802H Bailey Ave., according to a police report. She had gunshot wounds to her head and hand.
Antoine Jackson, 30, of North Little Rock was charged with capital murder and faced life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. But, Jackson agreed to a plea bargain under which he was sentenced to 50 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction by Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay. Jackson was given credit for 374 days jail time served.
Jackson is also considered a habitual offender and will have to serve 70 percent of his sentence before first being eligible for parole.
Nash's mother, Renee Hayes, tearfully read a statement in court. Jackson sat in the jury box wearing green and white jail clothing and didn't appear to react. Jackson didn't make a statement or acknowledge the dozen or more relatives or friends of Nash in the courtroom.
"Her favorite thing to do was be with family. She looked forward to being a mother one day," Hayes said. "She was my pride. She was my joy. She was my reason to wake up and live. She was my baby. Every day I have to live over and over with the fact she's gone. When I lost Emily, I lost a part of me I'll never recover."
Lindsay sad he hopes the plea brings family members closure in the future.
"All I can tell you is that although we have a great legal system in this country there are times when it cannot do what we want it to do. We always want the victim of a crime to be put back where they were, but there are times when that cannot be done, and this is one of those times," Lindsay said. "I cannot bring Emily back, so I cannot make her whole again. The only thing that I can tell you is that I hope that in some way finishing this case and knowing Mr. Jackson is going to be punished severely, that that will in some way give you all some kind of closure and peace."
After pronouncing sentence, Lindsay addressed Jackson.
"Mr. Jackson, I hope you were listening as I spoke to the family," Lindsay said. "I hope you understand what it is you have done wrong and why you are here today, and I hope you think about it every day that you are in prison, and I hope that if you ever do get out that you'll be a different man than you are now and than you were May 26, 2015."
The state Crime Laboratory found fingerprint and DNA evidence putting Jackson at the crime scene, according to police. That evidence was found on the gun and Nash's body.
Police said Jackson told them he choked Nash during an argument.
Nash's family told police Jackson was Nash's boyfriend, according to police reports. He lived with Nash, but police didn't find anything belonging to Jackson when they searched the apartment.
Jackson was being held in the Washington County jail when he was charged in Nash's death.
An unnamed source told police Jackson threatened to shoot Nash two days before she was found dead. Nash's neighbor Elisala Wilson said he heard Nash fight with someone shortly before her body was found.
Police said Jackson wrote a letter while he was incarcerated and asked a friend to be his alibi, according to the report.
Jackson said in a jailhouse interview in August he didn't kill Nash. He said he and Nash were longtime friends. He said he moved out three nights before Nash's death.
Jackson has several convictions between 2007 and 2010, including aggravated assault, according to the Arkansas Department of Correction.
NW News on 05/09/2017