Appomattox Co., VA - Prosecutors call it criminal negligence. Defense attorneys say it was merely a tragic accident.

On Wednesday an Appomattox County jury decided Ardie Jackson should be held responsible for the shooting death of 19-year-old Michael King.

Jackson was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He says the shotgun he was holding went off on its own, killing his daughter's fiancé.

Michael King

Jurors at the Appomattox County Courthouse took only an hour and a half to make their ruling, and that's fairly quick after a full day of testimony. They recommended a sentence of 12 months.

It was an emotionally charged trial. The victims’ family wept openly when the prosecutor detailed how their son died.  They say they would have preferred the maximum allowed sentence of ten years.

Michael King's mother, Loretta Robertson, said, "I feel like you can go out here and take someone else’s gun, which it was Michael's gun, and shoot them and say it was an accident and get away with it pretty much."

Even Ardie Jackson needed a break to compose himself on the stand, while re-living the moments after Michael King was shot.

We've learned there will be at least one more charge filed against Ardie Jackson, which will be possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. It should be filed in the next few weeks.

Ardie Jackson will be sentenced on December 11th.

 

 Email To Friend