Man tried again after non-unanimous jury verdict; guilty of slaying stepson, neighbor

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A change in Louisiana law requiring unanimous jury verdicts led to the retrial and conviction of a Shreveport man.

The defendant, Jerry Jackson, 57, was convicted in 2019 for slaying his stepson and a neighbor in 2016, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ramos v. Louisiana mandating that criminal trial juries are required to deliver unanimous verdicts. Before Ramos, Louisiana only needed 10 of 12 jurors to come to a guilty consensus.

Jackson’s second jury was made of six women and six men who deliberated for 30 minutes before finding him guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter for a second time.

The conviction is related to an incident on July 20, 2016, when Jackson shot and killed his stepson, Kendrick Brown, and a neighbor, Michael Dillard, in front of his residence on Bond Drive in the presence of his wife.

Jackson reportedly attempted to hide his .22 caliber rifle used in the slaying by giving it to a friend who notified the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office. CPSO notified Shreveport police, and the rifle was collected and confirmed to match the .22 caliber casings at the crime scene. Additionally, Jackson’s wife at the time and a neighbor testified that Jackson shot both victims.

Jackson will return to court on February 24, 2025, for sentencing. He faces a mandatory life prison sentence for the murder conviction and up to 40 years for the manslaughter conviction.