Noura Jackson

Noura Jackson (born March 17, 1987) is an American criminal convicted of committing matricide by murdering her 39-year-old mother Jennifer Jackson in 2005.

Background information

Noura Jackson was the only child of Nazmi Hassanieh and Jennifer Jackson. After the couple divorced, Jennifer had a full custody of Noura. On January 26, 2004 Nazmi Hassanieh who owned a gas station in southeast Memphis, was murdered by a gun shot at his Kwik Stop office.^[1] Jennifer worked as a bond trader raising Noura alone. According to testimonies from family members and friends, the mother and daughter had a turbulent relationship, mostly because of Noura's usage of drugs and disregard for education.^[2]

Murder and trial

During the early hours of June 5, 2005 Noura's 39-year-old mother Jennifer Jackson was brutally murdered in her bedroom by being stabbed more than 50 times. Investigation revealed that at 4:04 a.m. on June 5, Noura was seen on a video surveillance of Walgreens buying bandages for a cut on her hand, a fact that she had not mentioned during her interrogation. At 4:20 a.m. she bought gas and at 5:00 a.m. she claimed to have entered her house and found her mother dead.^[1]

Noura Jackson was arrested on September 29, 2005, three months into the investigation^[1] and charged with second degree murder. The trial started on February 9, 2009 at Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in downtown Memphis.^[1] After the closing statements, the jury of eight women and four men deliberated for nine hours and found her guilty.^[3] She was convicted based largely on circumstantial evidence.^[4][5] Judge Chris Craft sentenced her to 20 year and 9 months with no possibility of parole.^[6] She was sent to Mark H. Luterrell Correctional Center in Memphis. Although the defense filed a motion for a new trial on the basis of alleged trial errors and inadmissible evidence, judge denied the appeal on July 17, 2009.^[1]

She filed another appeal on September 7th, 2011. Her lawyer, Valerie Corder, claimed that Noura was a victim of a 'Win at all costs' trial.^[7]

After sentencing

At 15% of the total parricide perpetuators, Noura Jackson is one of a few daughters who were 18 or younger when they murdered their mothers.^[5]

Noura Jackson is now serving her sentence in Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville, Tennessee. She was credited with her 3 years in jail before the trial took place, as the time already spent.^[6] In 2011, Noura was investigated and found guilty for drug use in the Tennessee prison. After the morphine was recovered from Noura, she was sentenced to 10 days in solitary and $4 fine. She earns $0.25 per hour working at the prison laundry. Since August 2010, Noura was disciplined three times.^[8]

In popular culture

The story of Noura Jackson was shot in a 48 Hours Mystery documentary My Mother's Murder which aired in April 2010.^[2]

See also

• Yukio Yamaji
• Murder of Diane and Alan Scott Johnson
• Courtney Schulhoff

References