Noura Jackson convicted of second-degree murder of her mother

[The Streets Don't Love You Back]

Classified Noura Jackson convicted of second-degree murder
21-year-old faces 15 to 25 years behind bars for murder
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Posted February 21, 2009 at 6:28 p.m.
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A jury found Noura Jackson guilty of second-degree murder Saturday for the death of her mother, Jennifer Jackson.
Evidence showed that Noura Jackson was a distant teenager, a drug user, an underage drinker, an angry daughter and often a stranger to the truth.

In the eyes of a jury Saturday, evidence showed she also was a killer.

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A jury deliberated for nine hours Saturday before finding Noura Jackson guilty of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of her mother, Jennifer.

Photo by Mike Maple // Buy this photo

Cindy Jackson Eidson (left), Jennifer Jackson's sister, embraces prosecutor Amy Weirich after the verdict was read.
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Jurors announce a verdict in the Noura Jackson trial Watch »

After a two-week trial that included more than 40 witnesses and 392 exhibits, the Criminal Court jury of eight women and four men found the 21-year-old Jackson guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of her mother, Jennifer.

"I'm so proud of that jury," said state prosecutor Amy Weirich, who told jurors Noura killed her mother as "a perfect storm" of personal issues reached a peak. "It's a great verdict. I've never had a case go that long."

Jennifer Jackson, 39, an investment banker, was stabbed more than 50 times in the early-morning hours of June 5, 2005, at their home at 5001 New Haven at Mendenhall.

Her only child, who was then just 18, now faces 15 to 25 years in prison with no parole when she is sentenced March 20 by Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft.

She has been in custody for nearly 31/2 years, which will be deducted from her sentence.

"She's very upset," said defense attorney Valerie Corder. "She's crying. She's on her way back to Jail East. This was an uphill battle from day one. My client maintains she is not guilty."

The case was unusual not only for its length and massive number of exhibits, but also for its rarity.

Experts on juvenile crime say that less than 1 percent of all homicides involve a mother killed by her child and that less than 15 percent of those are committed by teenaged daughters.

"It was a very personal attack," said Weirich, who acknowledged to jurors that no one wants to believe a daughter could stab a mother 50 times.

"Jennifer was asleep and she snuck up on her and began stabbing her. I could see her rage building to a point where she could carry it out by herself very easily. The stab wounds to her face were just hate marks."

When police asked Noura if she and her mother had argued recently, she said, "Only the same kind that teenagers and mothers do."

Defense attorneys noted that the medical examiner said two knives may have been used, that a lab expert said unidentified DNA was found in the bloody bed and that many of the state's witnesses were "pothead" teenagers with foggy memories.

Despite the mounds of physical items from the home and DNA from the crime scene presented by prosecutors, little if any of the evidence pointed to Noura as the killer.

Instead, prosecutors Weirich and Steve Jones presented a circumstantial case built on early-morning phone calls and store receipts to track Noura's location as, they argued, she sought to establish an alibi.

Jones said, "The cover-up gave her up."

Prosecutors also cited inconsistent statements she made about how she sustained a cut on her left hand and noted her anger with her mother in life and her apparent lack of grief after her death.

One witness said Noura wanted to go to the movies or have a party less than 24 hours after her mother's death.

"Sometimes science is a great thing, but with a situation like this, DNA swabs from the home and the fact that they didn't even find Noura's fingerprints in the house, I think it speaks volumes about how difficult it is to find scientific evidence," said Weirich.

"In this case, with all of the blood, it was like trying to find a needle in a needle stack. The fact that they didn't find Noura's blood didn't mean it wasn't there