Jury deliberations began Thursday in the trial of a Moreno Valley man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend’s new lover — in front of their children — stemming from extreme jealousy over the pair’s relationship.
Jerome Roy Jackson, 37, allegedly killed Jason Williams, 38, of Riverside in 2022.
Jackson is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of child endangerment and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The prosecution and defense delivered closing statements Thursday morning, after which Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni sent the jury behind closed doors to begin weighing evidence from the two-week trial at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The panel was directed to resume deliberations Monday.
Jackson is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant and Williams were one-time friends, but a conflict developed in 2021 when Jackson and his girlfriend, Corina Aguirre, split up, and he moved out of their two-story house on Tea Rose Lane, where he and Aguirre had been raising their four children.
Jackson and Aguirre had been a couple for 15 years, and after he left the house, “he repeatedly told her that he would hurt any man she dated after him,” the brief stated.
In the early afternoon of Aug. 6, 2022, Jackson drove with his then-girlfriend, 48-year-old Danielle Ryan Rainey of Riverside, to the Tea Rose Lane neighborhood, parking about a block away on Snapdragon Lane, prosecutors said.
Jackson had allegedly armed himself with a .380 semiautomatic pistol and a 9mm handgun. The brief said he contacted his eldest daughter, identified only as “K.J.,” and directed her to send him a message when the victim arrived to meet Aguirre.
When Williams pulled up in his Mercedes E350, K.J. did as instructed, at which point Jackson told Rainey to drive her Chevrolet Cruz over to Aguirre’s house while he loaded his two pistols, prosecutors alleged.
After she parked, he got out of the car and “made contact with Williams in the driveway, where they began to argue,” according to the brief.
“This resulted in a brief shoving match (until) Williams reached out his hand to shake the defendant’s, seemingly to bury the hatchet,” the narrative said. “The defendant took a few steps backwards, pulled out a gun and began firing.”
The victim was struck by multiple rounds through both shoulders, lower back, right hip, right arm and right-side rib cage, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Jackson emptied the .380, pausing only to walk over to the Chevy to obtain the 9mm, prosecutors alleged. Aguirre, K.J. and one of the other children ran into the driveway, screaming at Jackson to stop his attack.
Despite the severity of his wounds, Williams stumbled to his Mercedes and tried to enter it when the defendant walked over and aimed at the man’s head, allegedly shooting him through the temple, killing the victim instantly, according to the prosecution.
Witnesses called 911, as did Jackson, who conveyed to dispatchers that Williams had allegedly initiated the confrontation by trying to throw a punch, according to the brief.
During questioning by detectives, the defendant’s story changed several times, until he ultimately commented that Williams had “pulled a gun and fired, bro,” the brief said.
No firearm was found in the victim’s possession. Statements from Aguirre and the children contradicted the defendant’s version of what happened, along with security surveillance videos captured via cameras attached to surrounding houses, according to prosecutors.
Rainey was originally charged with being an accessory after the fact. However, following a February 2024 preliminary hearing, the allegation against her was dismissed.
Court records indicated Jackson has a prior misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving, but no documented felonies.