The teenager accused of stabbing her 2-year-old sister will be out of prison in seven years after entering a plea deal Monday afternoon in a DeKalb County courtroom.
Ty’Aisa Jackson, 14, was sentenced to 12 years, eight of which must be served behind bars. She will get credit for the time she’s already spent in jail.
Jackson was 13 in November 2012 when she was arrested and accused of fatally stabbing her 2-year-old sister Sasha LaMaya Ray.
Through her attorneys, she rejected a plea deal in September that would have given her a reduced sentence – 10 years in prison as opposed to a mandatory 30 years if found guilty at trial – for pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Monday afternoon, Jackson was back in court, this time to accept a plea deal. She could have faced life in prison.
On Feb. 19, 2012, Jackson was watching her younger siblings at their home near Decatur when her parents were called and told that young Sasha was missing.
Jackson said she couldn’t find the toddler and joined in the search.
Sasha was found with stab wounds in the backyard of the townhome, police said, and died as her parents rushed her to the hospital in their car.
Police responding to the scene eventually determined that Sasha’s killer was not one or more wild animals as her father, Shelton Ray initially suspected, and took Jackson in for questioning.
Jackson would later call Ray, her stepfather, from police headquarters to confess that she had stabbed her sister, Ray told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in November.
Prosecutors have charged Jackson as an adult.
Defense attorneys have provided a psychological assessment of Jackson from Emory University psychological professor Dr. Eugene Emory, who said she appeared to have “some loosening of contact with reality” at the time of the incident.
Prosecutors are now seeking their own psychological review, officials said.
Jackson is currently being held at the Regional Youth Detention Center until her trial.
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— Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.
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