Shelton Jackson was a seventeen year old from Jacksonville Florida who would murder a man during a robbery. According to court documents Shelton Jackson and his brother Larry along with Anthony and Bobby Smith would kidnap Thomas C. Maynard. Maynard would be brought to an ATM where he was forced to make a withdrawal. Thomas Maynard was then brought to a remote location where Shelton Jackson would fatally shoot him in the head. Shelton Jackson would be convicted of the murder and robbery and would be sentenced to life without parole. This teen killer is currently going through a resentencing process in hopes he may one day leave prison
Shelton Jackson 2023 Information
| DC Number: | 117512 |
|---|---|
| Name: | JACKSON, SHELTON |
| Race: | BLACK |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 10/02/1972 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 07/19/1990 |
| Current Facility: | OUT OF DEPT. CUSTODY BY COURT ORDER |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | SENTENCED TO LIFE |
Shelton Jackson More News
Shelton Jackson has been serving a life sentence since July 13, 1990, for his role in robbing and killing a Jacksonville man begging for his life, execution-style.
He was about three months shy of 18 when he was sentenced for shooting 31-year-old Thomas C. Maynard.
Now 48, he faces a Jacksonville judge soon in a hearing that could result in less time behind bars. A Thursday-night A&E Network episode looks into the brutal case following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.
The 9 p.m. show, titled “Kid Behind Bars: Life or Parole,” details Maynard’s murder after he was kidnapped and robbed. Along with interviews with police and Jackson’s family, viewers will also hear from Maynard’s widow, Leesa. She vehemently opposes any resentencing.
“I’m a total believer that if you do the crime, you do the time,” Leesa Maynard states in the program. “… He is a convicted murderer and the truth should stand.”
Provided by the State Attorney’s Office, the original 1990 arrest report on Maynard’s Jan. 26 death on Hollybrook Avenue said the victim was found face-up in front of a pumping station with two bullet wounds, his wallet and wedding ring gone.
“An examination of the body does reveal at least one gunshot to the back of the head,” the report said.
Maynard’s wife told detectives he had gone to the Publix supermarket on 103rd Street at 8:45 p.m. to get some cash from an ATM machine to buy formula for their week-old baby. He never returned.
Investigators learned that his stolen bank card had been used about 10:30 p.m. at an ATM at a Normandy Boulevard Publix with $260 taken. They also found his Ford Mustang on Jan. 29 off Moncrief Road.
A witness then reported seeing two men and a woman she recognized in the car outside an apartment on Moncrief, the report said. Officers went to the woman’s apartment on Jan. 30 and found a television that had been inside Maynard’s Mustang and brought her and another woman in for questioning.
Both women admitted knowledge about the murder. One said she had ridden in the Mustang with her two brothers, Anthony and Bobby Smith, plus boyfriend Larry Jackson. She also said her boyfriend admitted that his brother, Shelton Jackson, shot Maynard, the report said. Then Anthony Smith took another shot.
Ironically, Shelton and Larry Jackson walked into the Sheriff’s Office as the women were being interviewed, asking to see their sisters who had been picked up by police. They were arrested on scene.
The report details how the Jackson and Smith brothers kidnapped Maynard, then the four forced him to go to the Normandy Boulevard ATM and take out money. Maynard was then taken 7 miles away to Hollybrook Avenue. Shelton Jackson said they made Maynard lie on the ground while Anthony Smith took his watch, wallet and wedding ring. Then Shelton Jackson said he fired one shot into the victim’s head.
“According to Shelton Jackson, the victim begged him not to kill him and not to shoot him again,” the report said. “Jackson then stated that he fired once again into the ground to make the victim be quiet, at which time Anthony Smith told him to give him the weapon and fired another shot into the victim’s head, which appeared to have killed him.”
Shelton Jackson, only 17 when he was arrested on charges of murder, armed robbery and kidnapping, has filed appeals and motions multiple times since his sentencing to life in prison, court records show. Since the Supreme Court ruling, he has been moved back to the Duval County jail with a status hearing set for Sept. 20 in Duval Circuit Court, records show.
Anthony Lamar Smith, now 50, was 19 when he was sentenced to life in prison, state Department of Corrections records show. His brother, Bobby Smith, was 20 when he was sentenced to 25 years and released in 2002. Larry Jackson was 26 when he was sentenced to 35 years and released in 2014.
Jacksonville has had its share of sentencing hearings to review earlier life terms for then-juveniles.
In 1999 then-15 year old Joshua Phillips was tried as an adult in the 1998 murder of 8-year-old Southside neighbor Maddie Clifton, then found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Per the Supreme Court’s ruling that juveniles cannot automatically be sent to prison for life, he received a new sentencing hearing in late 2017 but again was sentenced to life.
In 1993 Eugene Edwards, then 16, was sentenced to life when he and four other teens, the oldest 18, robbed and killed Jacksonville corrections officer Tammy Jo Johnson. After the Supreme Court ruling, Edwards’ sentenced was dropped in 2018 from life to 45 years, with credit for time he’s already served.
And right now, Aiden Fucci, 14, is charged as an adult with murder in the May 9 stabbing death of 13-year-old classmate Tristyn Bailey in Northwest St. Johns County.
Shelton Jackson FAQ
Shelton Jackson 2021
Shelton Jackson is currently out of the Florida Prison System as he appeals his sentence
Shelton Jackson Release Date
Shelton Jackson is currently serving a life sentence however is in the process of resentencing
I believe in compassion. There is a really good reason why he got life with no parole. He deserved it.
Geesh, how can people defend what these animals do by saying they were young? We know right from wrong in our teenage years!!! I was abused as a child but never killed. Quit being a bleeding heart! Look at our streets today, children can’t play outside without worrying about drive by shootings. Chicago is a jungle and most of our cities are uninhabitable. We need justice
I do believe that teens should be held accountable for there actions when they commit a crime. But giving a teenager a life sentence is a little to harsh because some teens are not mature enough to know what they are doing. Depending on where the teen is from they probably don’t have a male role model in their life so they are being brought up by a single mother who is doing her best to raise a man. Teens usual turn to the streets joining gangs and selling drugs, and committing crimes. I say make them serve a reasonable amount of time but not life and give them a second chance at life on the outside. That is what I believe should be done to all teen offenders..