A week before Colin Marcel Jackson, 22, was found dead in Campus Crossings by Orange County deputies, he bonded out of jail for a violent crime he allegedly committed at the complex.
According to court documents, Jackson and Jamal Ahmad Herndon, 24, were arrested and charged with robbing two residents of Campus Crossings and firing shots at them in the complex on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 2014.
According to the arrest affidavit, the two victims were at their building when Jackson and Herndon, a Full Sail University student, tried to steal the male victim’s gold chain from around his neck.
“He stated they both pointed a firearm at him in an attempt to rob him,” the arrest affidavit said. “He ran and one of the individuals pointed a firearm into the air and shot a round yelling ‘you a [expletive].'”
The following day, both victims saw Jackson and Herndon outside their building. The victims told deputies they ran into a car to try to get away from the men because they were frightened that they would be killed, the affidavit said.
The victims said they heard a shot fired when they sped away and heard one of the men shouting curse words after them, the arrest affidavit said. The shot pierced the ground and didn’t hit the vehicle or either victim.
When Orange County deputies arrived at the scene, the victims saw the car the two suspects usually drove, a 2002 Mercedes-Benz station wagon.
Deputies found two guns when confronting Jackson and Herndon, Jackson having his gun in his front pocket of his pants, the report said. After searching the pockets of both men and the vehicle, deputies said they also found drugs and belongings of both victims, which the victims said were stolen from inside their apartment at Campus Crossings.
Both Jackson and Herndon bailed out of jail on Jan. 28. Jackson was found dead Wednesday night, exactly a week after he bonded out of jail. Herndon is currently out of jail and awaiting trail.
KnightNews.com called Campus Crossings about this incident and asked what was done to prevent Jackson and Herndon from coming back into the complex after robbing two residents at gunpoint, and an employee of the complex said she wasn’t sure but that security usually only works after their office is closed.
Campus Crossings told us that they now have security guards monitoring the gates 24/7, but said they weren’t sure how long they’d keep this service. We asked a manager at Campus Crossings about what was being done to keep residents safe, keep criminals out and why they didn’t have security monitoring the gates 24/7, but a statement was not received before this article was published.
