Jerren Jackson / Submitted photo
BY MATT McCALL
Homicide Watch Chicago
Every August, Jerren Jackson hosted a barbecue in Washington Park for her friends and family.
The gathering usually attracted more than 50 people, including her four children and several of their friends that she took in when they were troubled teenagers with no place else to go, friends said.
Jackson, 53, will not be grilling ribs this summer after she was stabbed and beaten to death May 5 at her West Ridge home.
Prosecutors claim Jackson’s son, 24-year-old Jerome Jackson, slit her throat because he thought she was stealing money from him. He was charged with first-degree murder and is being held on $1.5 million bond.
Myeko Ohana, 37, said she was friends with Jerren Jackson’s daughter and lived with the Jackson family as a teenager. She said Jerren Jackson always treated her like a biological child.
“She loved everybody the same,” Ohana said. “If you needed a place to stay, and you were friends with her children, you could stay.”
Tiffany Stallworth, 36, said she too was a close friend of Jerren Jackson’s daughter. Stallworth said she considers Jarren Jackson her adopted mother, and is proud her funeral services will be standing room only.
“She was was warm, kind, funny and everybody loved her,” Stallworth said. “One thing that stood out about Jerren is that she was family oriented. She loved and had a gratifying relationship of all of her children, biological and otherwise.”
Prosecutors said it was one of Jackson’s biological children who killed her.
Jerren Jackson / Submitted photo
The day Jerren Jackson was killed, neighbors saw a woman run from the home and called 911. When police found her body in her apartment in the 6200 block of North Bell Avenue, she had been stabbed multiple times and had a piece of a dinner plate embedded in her cheek. She had a “severe slice wound from ear to ear on her throat,” multiple cuts on her head and face, a stab wound to the chest and defensive wounds on her hands, prosecutors said.
Responding officers saw Jerome Jackson exit the apartment building wearing nothing but boxer shorts and socks, prosecutors said. Jerome Jackson, who was covered in blood, walked to a nearby convenience store and took a beer without paying, Abraham said.
The officers stopped Jerome Jackson, who had two cuts on his hands, and he told officers he got the cuts when he stabbed his mother, prosecutors said.
While in custody, Jerome Jackson gave a recorded statement admitting to beating and stabbing his mother because he thought she was stealing his money.
A public defender said Jerome Jackson has “severe mental health issues.” He will be back in court on May 26.