Boyfriend accused in Fort Worth death of girlfriend’s son

A 24-year-old man serving time in state jail on a drug conviction has now been accused of causing the October death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son by picking up the boy by his throat.

Keandre Labron Jackson faces a charge of capital murder in connection with the death of Jeremy “JJ” Lindsay Jr.

Police were called to an apartment in the 8900 block of Sharpview Drive in west Fort Worth about 7:42 a.m. on Oct. 28 on a report that a child had fallen and was having trouble breathing.

JJ was taken by ambulance to Cook Children’s Medical Center where he was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office has since ruled that the child’s death was a homicide caused by “sudden death with history of neck compression.”

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the boy’s mother had initially told crimes against children detectives that she was cleaning the boy up after he had wet his pants. She said she had gone to get the boy clean clothing when she heard her son fall in the shower and found him not moving at the bottom of the tub, prompting her to begin CPR and call 911.

The mother told investigators that Jackson, her boyfriend, had stopped by the apartment while Jeremy was undressing for his bath, but had left before the child had fallen.

A worker at the complex, however, told police that as fire trucks arrived on the scene, he spotted a man he recognized as the mother’s boyfriend run from the apartment to the bus stop and board a bus.

Detective A. Heise later obtained a video from the bus that showed the fire truck’s flashing lights as a man matching the description of Jackson got on the bus.

In a Nov. 2 interview, JJ’s aunt told police that she had watched the boy overnight while his mother worked the night shift. She said she had dropped off JJ about 6:11 a.m. on the morning of his death, when Jackson was at the apartment.

An alleged confession

Police had gone to the mother’s apartment again on Nov. 16 when they spotted Jackson standing on the balcony. He was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant and agreed to speak to Detective J.E. Chalifoux.

In that interview, according to the affidavit, Jackson gave the following account of the boy’s last minutes before collapsing:

He said he made JJ walk to the bathroom to take a bath after the boy peed his pants.

He said he slapped the back of the boy’s head to get him to move, prompting the boy to throw himself down on the ground. He then pulled the boy back up and slapped him again on the back of the head again.

Jackson said he told JJ to take a bath and went to look for clothing for the boy.

Jackson told the investigator that JJ was later jumping on the bed and that he grabbed the boy around the neck to make him stop. Jackson admitted he then lifted the boy up by the neck, preventing the boy’s feet from touching the bed or floor, the affidavit states.

Jackson told the detective that the boy began to wheeze and draw his hands up toward his body as he applied pressure to JJ’s neck.

The affidavits states after the boy become symptomatic, Jackson put the boy in the tub and stepped out of the bathroom. He said he returned to find JJ on the bottom of the tub, pulled the boy out and began chest compressions on him and slapped his cheeks.

Mother changes story

On Nov. 16, Heise interviewed the boy’s mother again, who gave a different account of what happened from her earlier statements to police, the affidavit states.

The woman said she had come home around 7 a.m. that morning from work and that her boyfriend was at the apartment with her son.

She ultimately told the detective that she found Jackson trying to help JJ, who was on the floor of the bedroom. She said she then began CPR on her son.

The woman said Jackson had told her he was trying to give the boy a bath and had stepped out to get some clothes when the boy fell.

Police obtained a capital murder warrant against Jackson Wednesday after further investigation and a ruling by the medical examiner’s office that the child’s death was a homicide, said Sgt. Wade Walls, supervisor of the crimes against children unit.

Walls said investigators do not intend on seeking charges against the boy’s mother. He described the mother as in “a state of disbelief and shock” that her boyfriend could have harmed her child when first interviewed by police.

Tarrant County court records show Jackson was sentenced to deferred adjudication probation in a delivery of a controlled substance (heroin) case in October 2012.

His probation was revoked in December after violating his probation, including picking up a new charge of possession of marijuana, and he was sentenced to seven months in state jail. He was also given 30 days in jail for the misdemeanor marijuana case, records show.

Texas inmate records show Jackson is being housed at the Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson with a projected release date of June 3.

The recommended bond on the capital murder warrant is set at $750,000.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Boyfriend accused in Fort Worth death of girlfriend’s son."