FORT SMITH - A Fort Smith man has been sentenced in Sebastian County Circuit Court to 50 years in prison for the shooting death of a 21-year-old woman who was riding by in a crowded van.
Jonathan Jackson, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in the death of Aleya Criswell and to committing a terroristic act for shooting at the other passengers in the van.
Under a plea agreement with the state, Circuit Judge J. Michael Fitzhugh sentenced Jackson to 30 years on the murder charge and 20 years on the terroristic act charge, with the sentences to run consecutively. Jackson has been held in the Sebastian County jail in lieu of $250,000bond since his arrest Dec. 29, 2012, according to court records.
Among the conditions of his plea, according to the court docket on the case, Jackson is supposed to obtain a General Education Development diploma while in prison.
Criswell’s family approved of the plea deal, the docket showed.
Police said Criswell was one of seven people who were riding in a van down a street in north Fort Smith on the afternoon of Dec. 29, 2012, when it was fired on by Jackson.
Jackson was walking down the street with another man who was telling Jackson he had been threatened by some people. As the van passed, according to police reports, the man pointed at the van and said, “There they go.”
Jackson pulled out a .380-caliber pistol and fired all the bullets in the gun at the van.
The van was hit by two bullets, according to police. One of them struck Criswell, who yelled to the others in the van that she had been shot. While passengers called 911, the driver of the van drove to Sparks Regional Medical Center, where Criswell died.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/14/2014