Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 8-11-17

Feature
Inmate’s Mother Wants To Know What Happened
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
As Ms. Annette Jack- son makes preparations to bury her son, she waits on answers. All she knows is that her son died while incar- cerated at the Angola State Prison in unincorporated West Feliciana Parrish, Louisiana.
Ms. Jackson said, “The Chaplain called me at 12:45 p.m., (last Tuesday, August 1st), and said my son, Leonardo Jackson, was dead and the Chaplain said I had 24 hours to claim his body. They didn’t call me di- rectly, but through some girl. I thought it was a joke.”
But she realized that it wasn’t a joke. She was told her son had died about 7:30 a.m., that morning.
Ms. Jackson said she began calling funeral homes to claim her son’s body. “They never told me, but told Harmon’s Funeral Home that we couldn’t claim his body. Harmon’s Funeral Home called me back and said it was a homicide and I would have to wait until the investigation was over.
“I’ve been just sitting here waiting on someone to tell me what happened to my son. My son came home last night (Monday, August 7th), with no death certificate, no paperwork, nothing but him. I’m still waiting; I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know
what happened to my son,” Ms. Jackson said.
So, without any answers to what happened, Ms. Jackson is trying to raise the money to bury her son. She didn’t have any insur- ance on him.
Ms. Jackson said, “I talked to my son everyday and every night before I went to bed. Sometimes, I talked tohim3or4timesaday.
After his arrest, Jackson told his mother that he wouldn’t be released from prison until 2056.
“I told him I didn’t want to know anything, just when he would be out,” Ms. Jack- son said she told her son.
A Tampa native, Jack- son attended the public schools of Hillsborough County, including Blake High School.
In addition to his mother, he is survived by 1 sister, 3 brothers, other family mem- bers and friends.
Funeral services for Jackson were incomplete at press time. Harmon’s Fu- neral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.
Sentenced To 50 Years Leonardo Jackson was released from Florida State Prison in April 2006, after serving four years. His mother said after his release, he left Tampa and moved to
Louisiana.
A computer search
showed that Jackson had
LEONARDO JACKSON 5/8/1982 to 8/1/2017
been convicted of the armed robbery of an Olive Gardens Restaurant that took place on October 25, 2007.
According to court docu- ments, Jackson was ar- rested for armed robbery and being a felon in possession of a handgun. He was convicted based on DNA evidence and the testimony of his co-de- fendant.
Jackson was sentenced to 50 years in prison on the armed robbery charge. The State of Louisiana did not pursue the felon in posses- sion of a handgun charge. He had been in jail since the 2007 arrest.
Jackson appealed the lengthy sentence, but his ap- peal was denied.
Angola Prison Jackson was ordered to serve his sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary,
also known as the “Alcatraz of the South.” The prison is also nicknamed “The Farm,” and “Angola,” after the coun- try where many of the slaves came from who worked on the plantation formerly lo- cated on the premises.
Angola is currently the largest maximum security prison in the country. It houses 6,300 inmates, lo- cated on 18,000 square acres of property. The prison is surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River.
Death row for men and the execution chamber for both men and women is also located at Angola.
Warden Comments
When the Sentinel con- tacted Warden Gary Young at Angola State Pen- itentiary via email, he
replied, “The death of Tony Jackson has been referred to the West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office for investiga- tion. Due to the pending in- vestigation, we will not be commenting concerning this matter.”
Jackson had entered the Louisiana Prison System under the alias of “Tony Jackson.”
Sheriff’s Office Responds
A spokesperson for the West Feliciana Parish Sher- iff’s Office said the Medical Examiner’s Office is cur- rently investigating the cause of death of Mr. Jackson, and they are waiting on toxi- cology reports. She further stated that his death is not being investigated as suspi- cious or as a homicide.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017