On March 8, 2015, 58-year-old Sharon Faye Jackson and her 62-year-old husband, Donnie Wayne Jackson, were found deceased in their home in Lily, Kentucky. Their grandson discovered their bodies after a fire broke out at their residence on Slate Ridge Road. Investigators later determined that the couple had died from gunshot wounds in what appeared to be a home invasion and robbery gone wrong.
The investigation revealed that Sharon Jackson was killed in the living room of their home, while
her husband was found in a back bedroom. Authorities believe the events unfolded around 8 a.m. that morning, with the 911 call about the fire not coming in until a couple of hours later when their grandson arrived and saw flames coming from the attic.
Two men, Bradley Justin Lawson, 36, of Corbin, and Christian Roberts, 26, of Manchester, were indicted in September 2016 on charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree robbery, and first-degree arson. However, in September 2018, the charges against both men were dismissed at the request of prosecutors. The dismissal was due to a lack of physical evidence tying them to the crime scene, the death of a witness, and the suppression of a statement made by Roberts. Despite initial statements from witnesses that implicated the defendants, the case against them could not proceed. No murder weapon was ever recovered from the scene.
