Sheriff Levon Allen said that an inmate at Clayton County Jail is accused of killing a cellmate on Sunday by severely assaulting him with his own hands.
Jaquez Jackson, according to deputies, “punched, kicked, and slammed his cellmate’s head on the toilet.”
The sheriff’s office claims that because of the color of his skin, he is suspected of killing his cellmate.
According to a Sheriff Allen news release, “Inmate Jaquez Jackson stated several times he does not like Mexican/Hispanics and wanted to kill them.”
Jackson faces charges at this time for the death of his cellmate, including murder, murder with intent, aggravated assault, and inciting a riot in prison.
Jackson was initially incarcerated for violating his probation after being charged with simple battery, simple assault, criminal trespass, battery, terroristic threats, and obstruction of an officer, according to Clayton County sheriff’s officials.
The @ClaytonCountySO has charged inmate Jaquez Jackson in connection with the beating death of his cellmate, Carlos Zegarra.
Sheriff Levon Allen calls the death racially motivated says Jackson told people he, “Does not like Hispanic people and wanted to kill them.”@11AliveNews pic.twitter.com/nTcga4wbfH— Dawn White (@DawnWhiteNews) November 21, 2023
The individual who was killed has been identified as Carlos Alfredo Zegarra-Arryo by the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Trial Attorney Tom Church stated, “The judge can impose an additional two years if it’s found to be a felony.”
Church stated that given the gravity of Jackson’s other allegations, he might not be prosecuted with a hate crime at this time.
Here, I’m speculating. Malice murder, felony murder, and assault are very serious charges that carry mandatory minimum penalties of at least 30 years in some situations, according to Church.
A judge placed the victim’s bond at $12,000 in December 2021 for theft by taking and removal of bags, according to court documents.
“In that sense, it’s the same as no bond,” Church said, referring to the people who have been granted a bond but may not be able to afford it.
Church stated that this frequently results in people facing small charges being imprisoned for an extended period of time.
“The longer you’re stuck, the more likely it is for bad things to happen, and unfortunately, the real problem here is that because of the backlog, you’re sitting there without a bond until your trial date, but your trial date is not for two years because of all these backlogs of cases,” Church said.
The police in Georgia asked for help from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into this.