On a tragic evening in Como, Mississippi, the lives of 22-year-old Cerea Jackson and her 68-year-old grandmother, Emma Jackson, were violently cut short. The two women were fatally shot in their home on Church Street on November 27, 2015. The sole suspect in the double homicide was identified as Quendarius Robinson, Cerea Jackson's 24-year-old boyfriend and the father of her child.
The harrowing events unfolded in the presence of Cerea's two young sons.
The courage of her four-year-old son brought the tragedy to light, as he ran to a neighbor's house in a state of shock, exclaiming that his father had shot his mother and grandmother. This brave act initiated the law enforcement response that would lead to a search for Robinson. Authorities quickly identified him as a person of interest and, considering him armed and dangerous, issued a warrant for his arrest.
Following the shooting, Robinson fled the scene in a Nissan Altima. An intensive manhunt was launched, and law enforcement officials believed he was being aided by a family member. Their efforts culminated in Robinson's arrest in Batesville on November 30, 2015. Inside the vehicle he was found in, investigators discovered a black hoodie with gunshot residue on the sleeve, a key piece of evidence in the case.
Quendarius Robinson was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. His trial took place in Panola County Circuit Court in November 2016. A central and compelling element of the prosecution's case was the testimony of Cerea's young son, who identified his father as the perpetrator. Robinson was found guilty on all counts and received a sentence of two consecutive life terms in prison, with an additional 10 years for the firearm possession charge. An appeal of his conviction was later filed, arguing against the admission of the child's statements as hearsay, but the Mississippi State Court of Appeals upheld the original verdict and sentence in May 2018.
