COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – Police have arrested Travane Brandon Jackson, 27, and charged him with four counts of murder, according to Muscogee County Jail records.
Jerrica Spellman, 29, and her three children; three-year-old son King, one-year-old daughter Kensley, and one-month-old daughter Kristen were found dead Wednesday night at Elizabeth Canty Apartments in South Columbus, Coroner Buddy Bryan has confirmed.
They were all found stabbed to death on the same pallet of blankets inside the apartment, Bryan said. The apartment had little in the way of furnishings, the coroner said. In addition to the pallet, there were two pieces of a sofa.
Unit 608A at Elizabeth Canty was being rented by Jackson and had been since January, according to information obtained from the Housing Authority of Columbus.
The coroner’s office left the scene about 6 a.m. taking the bodies directly to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Decatur.
Muscogee County state court records show Jackson was arrested in 14 months ago on a domestic violence charge against Spellman and had a history of other crimes.
Jackson was arrested on June 22, 2013, for possession of marijuana and intention to distribute according to court records. He pleaded guilty on May 12, 2014, and was sentenced to time served and seven years probation.
Years later, records show Jackson was arrested on May 17, 2018, after police were called by Spellman to a home in the 500 block of Farr Road.
The case was deferred adjudication in July of last year, pending Jackson attending anger management classes. He also had to pay $140 in court fees.
There was no resolution of the case.
Spellman told police at the time that he pushed her down. Jackson admitted to police to pushing her and said she hit her face on a table.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in Columbus Recorder’s Court at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
