Killer accepts plea deal to avoid death penalty

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

Authorities said Jackson killed two women.

YOUNGSTOWN — A city man will not be put to death for his role in a 2005 murder, but he likely will never live as a free man again.

Antonio Jackson, 28, of Summer Street, was set to go on trial Thursday for the Aug. 6, 2005, aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and rape but instead accepted a plea agreement from prosecutors.

Jackson accepted the plea Thursday afternoon before Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Prosecutors, under the plea agreement, dropped certain forms of aggravated murder and kidnapping from the original indictment and removed the death- penalty specifications. Jackson pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, three counts of kidnapping, three counts of aggravated robbery and rape.

As part of the plea agreement, the state recommended that Jackson be sentenced to two consecutive life terms without any possibility of parole for the aggravated- murder charges, three years for the gun specifications and a combined 10 years for all other counts.

Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, asked that Jackson be officially sentenced Jan. 29. She said the January sentencing date will give all victims’ families time to make it to court for the sentencing.

“This has been a long road for these victims’ families,” she said.

The family of one victim, Tahnee Jackson (no relation), 29, of Cassius Street, was in court for the plea agreement but declined to make any comment until Jackson is officially sentenced.

Prosecutors say Jackson drowned Tahnee Jackson and left her body floating in a creek in a wooded area near Erie Street and Earle Avenue on the South Side.

Prosecutors say Jackson also is responsible for the murder of Sierra Y. Slaton, 19, of Vestal Road.

The prosecution says Slaton was raped in South Side Park before being taken to McKelvey Lake on the East Side, where she was shot multiple times in the head at point-blank range and thrown into the water.

Slaton was found floating in the lake at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 2005.

A co-defendant, Antwon Lanier, 26, faced similar charges for crimes committed against Slaton. He was sentenced to consecutive sentences totaling 55 years to life in prison.

Lanier escaped the death penalty because the jury didn’t convict him of the aggravated-murder charge he originally faced, convicting him instead of the lesser-included offense of complicity to murder.

Prosecutors say another man, Antwain Blackmon of Lake Drive, drove the car used to transport Slaton from the scene of the rape to the lake. Blackmon has pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and kidnapping in the case and will be sentenced at a later date.

jgoodwin@vindy.com