MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Twenty-six-year-old Antonio Jackson had been in a trouble with the law a few times, but questions remain about what led to a deputy fatally shooting Jackson in Memphis on Monday.
A state background check showed all his prior offenses were in Shelby County. Those charges included a 2014 guilty plea to aggravated burglary and a 2018 guilty plea to unlawful possession of a weapon.
Records show he was currently out on parole and his sister told us he was staying out of trouble. She told us he was expecting another child.
“He take care of his kids. He take care of his family. He gone,” Jackson’s sister said.
Law enforcement have provided some details of the incident, but Jackson’s family has a different version of events.
“The police got on top of the car, [expletive] shot at him,” Jackson’s sister said.
Clinton Miller is a former Shelby County reserve deputy who now teaches criminal justice. He said there’s an easy way to determine what happened.
“Officers should always have body cameras and always keep cameras on your car because they protect you,” Miller said.
He said the officers who were investigating the incident that led to Jackson’s death most likely knew of his criminal background.
“Most times they know exactly who they going after,” Miller noted. “This was orchestrated, and it was just one of those situations where things went wrong.”
He says he teaches his students to handle these situations differently. By not standing in front or behind a suspect’s vehicle, it does not place them directly in harm’s way.
“If you’re trying to be low profile there’s a possibility they weren’t wearing cameras,” Miller said.
However, the public is still in the dark as to exactly why deputies approached Jackson. Neither the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office nor the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have said exactly why they were there.
On Monday Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said the Multi-Agency Gang Unit was at the location, but on Tuesday backtracked and said only Shelby County was involved.
The SCSO told WREG Tuesday that they did hand over camera footage to the TBI, but it is unclear if that is from a body camera or dashboard camera.