Columbus dad accused of killing girlfriend and their 3 kids found hanging in jail cell
The Columbus father accused of stabbing his girlfriend and their three young children to death in July was found hanging in a jail cell Monday afternoon, the Muscogee County sheriff said.
Sheriff Donna Tompkins confirmed at a press conference Monday night that Travane Brandon Jackson died by suicide after deputies found him unresponsive in his cell at the Muscogee County Jail.
Jackson died from asphyxiation, Tompkins said. Coroner Buddy Bryan said Tuesday that Jackson used a bed sheet for the ligature.
He faced four counts of murder in the July 17 stabbings of Jerrica Spellman, 29, and their children, 2-year-old King Jackson, 1-year-old Kensley Jackson and 1-month-old Kristen Jackson.
The mother and children were found dead in their apartment at Elizabeth Canty Homes, off Cusseta Road near 20th Avenue.
At Monday’s news conference, Tompkins said Jackson had been seen several times during the day, and had not acted unusual. He was alone in his cell when an officer found him hanging at 4:28 p.m.
Because Jackson was considered a high risk inmate, the officer had to call another deputy to open the cell.
No officer was allowed to escort Jackson without backup, and Jackson’s cell could not be unlocked from a central jail monitoring station, like some other jail areas, the sheriff said.
“Because of Mr. Jackson’s charges, he was not someone that one officer could open a door for, so when assistance arrived, they did go in, and found Mr. Jackson hanging,” Tompkins said. “They immediately took him down, called for nursing.”
The jail nursing staff tried to revive Jackson and called an ambulance. He was transported to Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:07 p.m.
Jackson was on suicide watch when he was booked into the jail on July 18, Tompkins said, but mental health staff removed him from that watch on July 25.
Jackson did not leave a suicide note.
Tompkins said she has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to handle the case. The GBI previously has investigated jail deaths in Muscogee County.
Brother responds
Spellman’s brother James Freeman said he was saddened to hear of Jackson’s death.
“My family is not happy with what happened to him,” Freeman said Monday night. “My heart goes out to his loved ones.... I did not want Brandon to end his life in this manner.”
He said he and Jackson had been corresponding while Jackson was in jail: “We’ve been exchanging letters this whole time.”
Freeman had wanted Jackson to help join in fighting domestic violence by talking to other young men, to steer them away from such abuse, but Jackson wouldn’t commit, he said.
“I could tell from his tone of voice that he was going to commit suicide,” Freeman said, adding Jackson’s attitude indicated he didn’t expect to be around long. “He never responded to it until the end,” Freeman said of campaigning against family violence, and in the end, Jackson said only that “we can do that if you want to.”
Now Spellman’s family is left without a full resolution to all they’ve endured, he said: “I’ll never get full closure. I’ll never get all the answers I want to from him.”
Going to prison
While still facing murder charges, Jackson most recently was in court for a probation violation stemming from a 2013 drug arrest and a 2018 family violence charge that involved a dispute with Spellman.
A judge revoked Jackson’s probation, so he would go to prison while awaiting trial.
Tompkins said Jackson was to be turned over to the Georgia Department of Corrections on Tuesday, but he did not know that.
In July, after Jackson’s preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court, police Cpl. Matt Sitler confirmed that Jackson, 27, wrote letters to Spellman’s family and asked detectives to deliver them. Jackson had been questioned “multiple times” at Columbus’ Public Safety Center, and consistently had admitted killing Spellman and the three children, Sitler said.
Jackson wrote three letters to Freeman, apologizing for killing Spellman and Freeman’s “favorite nephew,” 2-year-old King.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 7:12 PM.