EDITORIAL/Prison, mental health reform

Habitual offender Robert Leon Jackson had been out of prison for seven months on the state’s Earned Release Supervision Program — separate from parole — when he murdered Megan Staats and Jeremy Apperson at the CEFCO convenience store here two summers ago.

Since Jackson was first jailed in November 2002 for armed robbery at age 14 in Hinds County, he has spent over 80% of his life in jail. Even with that staggering amount of time behind bars, Jackson served less than 48% of his total sentences.

Here’s a man who should have been behind bars when he drove his black Ford Crown Victoria from Jackson to Philadelphia looking for money and in less than five minutes let loose a reign of terror that has forever changed the lives of our friends, loved ones and neighbors.

Jackson, 31, on Monday pleaded guilty in Neshoba County Circuit Court to two counts of capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He pleaded guilty to five other lesser charges totaling 90 years.

“It is the intent of this plea that Robert Jackson never be release from prison and that he will never be able to hurt anyone again,” District Attorney Steven S. Kilgore told the court.

The DA said — and we agree — that the plea was the best outcome for all involved since there was a good chance that Jackson would be found to be too developmentally challenged to be executed.

We learned definitively that good guys with guns interrupted Jackson’s rampage, keeping the death toll from rising higher.

Jackson had no recollection of his actions in Philadelphia that day, his attorneys told Judge Mark S. Duncan, who went to great lengths to ensure Jackson understood his plea and the consequences.

The facts, although necessary, were an excruciating replay of the horror that day recited aloud in the courtroom, a stark reminder that pure evil exists and that those forces invaded our quiet town.

The real sin may be Mississippi’s corrections system, especially one that would let Jackson out so often. Perhaps more damning is a political culture in Hinds County that favors sympathy or excuses over justice.

Jackson has suffered from mental illness all of his life, a woman identifying herself as a family member told the Democrat in a Facebook message pleading that the newspaper turn off comments on the post about the plea.

“They just drug your child and have them walking around like a zombi high off medication ’til where they can’t have a normal life,” she wrote.

The other thing that stands out in the replay is the quick and full response of local law enforcement.

Based on 911 radio logs, the first call came in at 5:30 p.m., officers arrived on scene at 5:33 p.m. and had the suspect in custody at 5:35 p.m. near the Econo Lodge breezeway just west of the CEFCO.

No amount of applauding law enforcement or even justice in this plea deal is going to bring Megan and Jeremy back, but this case ought to be held up as a reason for serious prison and mental health reform.