Man Kills His Family After Dad Told Him to Stop Gaming and Get a Job | He Claimed They Were Shot by an Intruder

Trigger Warning: The following article contains details of gun violence which some readers may find distressing.

A 22-year-old Iowa man has been found guilty of killing his parents and sister in their home in 2021. Alex Jackson was convicted on January 25, of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his 61-year-old father Jan Jackson, 68-year-old mother Melissa Jackson, and 19-year-old sister Sabrina Jackson. 

As per KGAN, the jury deliberated for six hours. "He didn't blink when they read those verdicts," First Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter told PEOPLE. She added, "The most stoic face I've ever seen." Jan's sister Kay Jackson and her daughter, Danielle Jackson Parsons, said in the statement after the guilty verdict, "Alex wanted the world to think he was a victim of this horrendous crime, but we know that is not the case, and now, everyone knows the truth of what happened that day," The Gazette reported.

"Alex murdered three members of our family and that pain will never go away," the family said. "Jan, Melissa, and Sabrina were loved. They will live on in our hearts and the hearts of those who knew them forever."

Jackson was a business student at the University of Iowa and he had made a 911 call on the morning of June 15, 2021, claiming an intruder broke into their Cedar Rapids home and shot him and another family member. He said the shooter was a tall black man, wearing all black, a ski mask, gloves, and green shoes. Jackson further informed the investigators that he struggled with the intruder and during the struggle, "either he shot himself in the foot or the intruder pulled the trigger, but that they were fighting over the gun when he was shot," Slaughter told PEOPLE.

She added, "He claimed that after he was shot in the living room area, he walked bloody into the bedroom to get the phone to call 911. Except all of the bloody footprints exited his bedroom, not entered, so it was obvious to the jury that he, after killing everybody, went in his room and had an 'oh s***' moment and shot himself." Jan had been shot five times, including twice in the back of the head. Melissa was shot in the right temple and left eye. His sister was shot in the rib cage and left eye. All of them were shot with a .22 caliber browning semi-automatic rifle. 

Slaughter, who prosecuted the case with Assistant Linn County Attorney, Jordan Schier, said that before the murders, Jackson's father had "told him that he was tired of him not living up to expectations and that it was time for him to stop gaming and grow up and get a job." She added, "He was failing out of college, he was gaming, he was not doing anything, and so dad told him to get a job."

Jackson had $30 in his bank account at the time of the shooting, she added. Slaughter added that investigators found several home and neighborhood surveillance cameras and "all of the cameras failed to pick up the phantom burglar." The gun belonged to the family and the box that stored the gun was found under Jackson's bed. 

The sentencing is scheduled for March 3.

References:

https://people.com/crime/iowa-man-convicted-murdering-parents-sister-staged-home-invasion/

https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/alexander-jackson-convicted-of-3-life-sentences-for-killing-his-family-in-2021/

https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/alex-jackson-triple-murder-trial-day-8

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