A man accused of murdering a Columbus mother and her three young children has died by suicide in the Muscogee County Jail, the county’s sheriff said Monday afternoon.
Travane Brandon Jackson was arrested in July after being accused of killing Jerrica Spellman, 29, and her three children in Columbus, AJC.com previously reported. The other victims were 3-year-old King Jackson, 1-year-old Kensley Jackson and 1-month-old Khristian Jackson.
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Travane Jackson, who was reportedly in a long-term relationship with the children’s mother, was charged with four counts of family violence-murder. The quadruple homicide took place at Elizabeth Canty Homes near 20th Avenue and Cusseta Road.
Muscogee County Sheriff Donna Tompkins said in a news conference Monday that a deputy found Jackson hanging inside his single-room cell just before 4:30 p.m. After nursing staff applied an automated external defibrillator (AED), he was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional’s Emergency Room.
Jackson was pronounced dead at 5:07 p.m., Tompkins said.
She said Jackson was initially placed on suicide watch for a week when he was arrested, but he had remained off suicide watch since July 25. He was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison for a probation violation and was set to be transferred to prison Tuesday.
“He was supposed to be moved tomorrow morning, but he did not know that,” Tompkins said. “We do not tell them they're being shipped (to prison) until an hour or two before they're shipped.”
She said deputies had seen Jackson throughout the day Monday and saw no signs of mental distress. She added that the GBI has been called in to investigate.
“There was nothing to indicate to our officers that it was anything other than a normal day at this time ... there was nothing in his communication to us or even mental health staff that there was any problem,” Tompkins said.
She referred all other questions to the GBI, which will be conducting Jackson’s autopsy.
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