Shooter pleads guilty to capital murder

Shooter pleads guilty to capital murder

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The Jackson man who shot two people to death at a Philadelphia convenience store two summers ago pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Monday in Neshoba County Circuit Court.

A habitual offender out on early release, the man, Robert Leon Jackson, now 31, drove his black Ford Crown Victoria to Philadelphia and, after pulling into the CEFCO on Mississippi 16 west between pumps six and seven facing the store at about 5:25 p.m., on Aug. 25, unleashed “unspeakable carnage” in less than five minutes, leaving a customer and the cashier dead and another person injured, District Attorney Steven S. Kilgore told the court the prosecution could show.





On Monday, after Jackson, wearing a CMCF yellow jumpsuit, his hands and feet cuffed and shackled, pleaded guilty and was sentenced, Kilgore said it 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 if convicted.

Jackson first approached a vehicle in the CEFCO parking lot occupied by four people, pointed a gun at them and demanded money before the driver sped away.

Megan Staats was working the register and Chelsey Collins was mopping. Jackson walks up to the register and points his gun at Staats and says, “This is a robbery, open the drawer,” according Kilgore as he stated the prosecution’s case on Monday.

Staats opened the drawer and moved out of the way. Jackson goes behind the counter and gets money out of the drawer and tells Staats to lay down on the ground face-down. Without another word, he shoots Megan Staats one time in the back. She dies before the authorities arrive on scene.

Meanwhile, Jackson exits the store and approaches pump two where a white Suburban has just pulled up to get gas. It is driven by Samantha Apperson. Her husband, Jeremy Apperson, is the passenger and he gets out to pump gas. Their 10-year-old son Hunter is in the back seat.

Jackson points his gun at Samantha Apperson. Jeremy Apperson reaches for his concealed handgun to protect his family, but isn’t able to get the weapon out of the holster before Jackson shoots and kills him.

Lavern Hampton was in the convenience store’s restroom while Jackson was inside the CEFCO. He heard the shot that killed Megan Staats. When he exits, Jackson, has gone to the Apperson vehicle.

Hampton runs to the vehicle that he and Linnell Carter arrived in. Robert Jackson approaches and fires at them. Hampton returns fire with a shotgun, hitting and wounding Jackson. Carter is also wounded during the exchange.



Jackson flees the CEFCO on foot and goes next door to the Shell where Lee Anthony is getting gas. He had heard the gunshots next door and saw Jackson walking over.

Anthony then runs into the store. He watches as Jackson goes into his vehicle and takes money. He then yells at Robert Jackson to get out of his vehicle. Jackson points his gun at Anthony and threatens to shoot him. Anthony runs to the back of the store.

Jackson then leaves the Shell and heads next door to the Econolodge. At 5:35 p.m., Philadelphia Police officer Desmond Jones, responding to the call, ordered Robert Jackson to put his gun down and get on the ground. Robert Jackson complied and was taken into custody.

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.

Officer Jones recovered a Taurus PT 738 .380 handgun that Jackson had used to murder Megan Staats and Jeremy Apperson, attempted to murder Linnell Carter and Lavern Hampton and attempted to rob the four people in the vehicle that fled.

At the hearing before Judge Mark S. Duncan, Jackson also pleaded to five lesser counts associated with the murders that total 90 years.

Duncan questioned Jackson extensively about the plea deal to make certain he understood what he was doing and the consequences.

Jackson admitted at one point he “made a mistake” but his attorneys said he has no recollection of the incident whatsoever.

Most of what Jackson said was inaudible to observers in the courtroom comprised mostly of family members of the victims seated on two rows on the west front side.

At one point, before admitting his guilt when Jackson seemed confused over something the DA said, Jackson was allowed to confer with his attorneys in the courtroom and then allowed to step outside the courtroom before confessing.

Kilgore said the plea recommendation was made with the agreement of the victims, victims’ families and law enforcement. The state agreed to drop its habitual offender counts. The prosecution withdrew motions regarding Jackson’s psychiatric condition.

Jackson had been convicted of the following:

• Armed robbery in Hinds County in July 2004;

• Motor vehicle theft in Hinds County in July 2006;

• Indicted on armed robbery in Hinds County in October 2012, but plead guilty to robbery.

“After many meetings with the victims and victims’ families, we explained to them that even if we got a death penalty verdict we’d be tied up with years and years of appeals,” Kilgore said in a statement.





The State of Mississippi hasn’t executed anyone since 2012 and “may not for some time — if ever,” Kilgore said, noting Jackson’s developmental disability.

“The families agreed that a plea where Jackson never got out of prison was the best path for their closure,” he said.

Since Jackson was first jailed in November 2002 for armed robbery at the age of 14, he has spent over 80% of his life in jail, the DA noted afterward.

“Even with that staggering number, Robert Jackson served less than 48% of his total sentences. We will not make that mistake,” the DA said.

“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.”

Jackson had been out of prison for seven months as part of the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ Earned Release Supervision Program — which is separate from parole — when he committed the murders in Philadelphia.

Jackson was represented by public defender William LeBarre of Jackson and Jes Smith of Carthage.

Staats, who was 27, had recently accompanied an autistic family friend to his senior prom. Her hobbies included body art, eating and especially spending time with her daughter Sadie.

Two strangers from Alabama had sat with Jeremy Apperson’s young son while his mother tended to his father’s bullet-ridden body by the gasoline pumps.

Jeremy Apperson, 33, was a transport fuel truck driver for Philadelphia-based Prince Oil Co., Inc. He was described as the type of guy who would basically give you the shirt off of his back, according to friends and co-workers.

Apperson’s wife Samantha posted Facebook the Sunday following the shootings that she’d “like to take a minute to publicly thank these ladies Shanda Mae and Chasity Mae from Livingston, Ala.”

“These two women came straight to me while I was trying to go between my husband on the ground and our son who had just witnessed his father being murdered, after a strange man pulled a gun on his Mother,” she wrote.

“Shanda and Chasity told me to be with Jeremy and they had Hunter. They stood with him while he sat in the back seat and talked with him about his love for basketball, school, and telling him to put this in Jesus’ hands.”








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