Jerry Terrell Jackson 

Date of Birth:  July 22, 1981

Sex: Male

Race: Black

Entered the Row: April 3, 2003

District: Williamsburg

Conviction: Two counts of capital murder, rape and robbery

Virginia DOC Inmate Number: 319080  

Jerry Jackson confessed to raping, robbing and killing Ruth W. Phillips, 88, in her apartment at Rolling Meadows in Williamsburg, VA. A fingerprint at the crime scene matched his and after DNA testing, Jackson could not be excluded as the source of four public hairs found on Phillip’s body.   

During trial, Jackson recanted his confession and said he was only guilty of robbery; he did not know who raped Phillips, but knew that an accomplice had smothered her. 

A Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court jury convicted Jackson of petty larceny, robbery, burglary, rape and two counts of capital murder.  On Nov. 5, 2002, the jury recommended that Jackson be sentenced to death.[i]

On April 3, 2003, Circuit Judge Samuel Powell imposed the death penalty.  The Virginia Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on January 16, 2004.

Jerry Jackson has been on Virginia's death row since April 3, 2003.