FAYETTEVILLE -- A North Little Rock man who fatally shot a woman in the head at her Springdale apartment two years ago pleaded guilty last week 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 in 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 on Monday. Jackson was given credit for 374 days time served.
Jackson is also considered a habitual offender and will have to serve 70 percent of his sentence before 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 did not appear to react. Jackson did not make a statement nor did he acknowledge the dozen or more relatives and 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 said he hopes the plea brings family members closure in the future.
The state Crime Laboratory found fingerprint and DNA evidence that put 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.
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 that 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 had several convictions between 2007 and 2010, including aggravated assault, according to the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Metro on 05/14/2017