Trial set for Pueblo man accused of murdering wife in abandoned home
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- After several delays due to COVID-19, a trial date has now been set for a Pueblo man accused of beating his wife to death.
23-year-old Rashad Jackson was in court Thursday for a review hearing. Pueblo Police say he was charged with murder in 2020 for killing his wife Greythonia Jackson. At this time, his trial is scheduled to start at the beginning of August.
Court documents obtained by KRDO reveal that Rashad told investigators that he never meant to kill his wife, but he admitted to beating her and moving her body in a stroller.
Greythonia's body was discovered in an alleyway between Spruce Street and Pine Street on the 1600 block. Court documents show that Rashad called the police to report the body himself Monday afternoon around 4:25 pm.
When police questioned Jackson, he told them he was staying in an abandoned home on Pine Street with his wife and two children.
When police found Greythonia's body, she was lying in an alley with a large white stuffed teddy bear next to her. The 22-year old is reported to have had significant facial injuries.
According to Jackson's arrest affidavit, police recovered surveillance video from a home on the 600 block of Baystate near the alley. The footage shows a man pushing a three-wheeled black and green stroller with a wrap around the covering front of the stroller. Police say the man in the surveillance video appeared to be wearing the same clothing worn by Rashad Jackson.
Jackson later confessed to investigators during questioning that he and his wife had been bickering and fighting. According to court papers, he told investigators that he was from Chicago and claimed that if "a woman said certain things that a man had a right to slap a woman."
During the interview, Jackson said he slapped and hit Greythonia with a closed fist multiple times. According to the affidavit, he claimed Greythonia would pull his dreads, hit him in the head, and even bite him. Jackson said the two were arguing about purchasing their young son a birthday gift and getting jobs.
Jackson says the two stopped fighting and slept for a time. He says they woke up a few hours later, had sex, then went back to sleep.
Jackson then told police he woke up, and Greythonia wasn’t breathing. He stated that he held her nose and mouth for 15 to 20 seconds and didn’t feel any breath, and even tried giving CPR, the affidavit says. The 22-year old claims he did not call 911 because his phone was out of battery.
After his discovery, Jackson said he left for 5-10 minutes to find a good place to put Greythonia's body, thinking someone would find her and call 911. Jackson says he put his wife's body in a stroller and moved her to the alley between 1600 Spruce and Pine Streets.
After a few hours, nobody arrived, so Jackson went back to his wife's body and moved her to make her more visible. Jackson told investigators he took a large teddy bear out of a neighbor's yard and placed it next to his wife's body so that she wouldn't be alone.
After moving her body, however, no one called 911. Jackson told police he then decided to wave down a neighbor and use her phone several hours after his wife's death, the affidavit says.
Jackson is currently being held at the Pueblo County Correction Facility. Pueblo Police tell KRDO his two children are being cared for and are safe. Jackson is scheduled for a motion hearing Friday.
