The trial for Beaumont man charged in the slaying of a man on Easter morning two years ago is expected to start Monday.
Tristan Ka’von Jackson, 25, in April 2019 was charged and indicted for murder after Beaumont police say he and another man talked to them about the holiday shooting. He faces up to 99 years in prison if convicted of the first-degree felony.
Jury selection in the trial is expected to begin Monday afternoon, and testimony could begin as soon as Tuesday, according to information from the 252nd District Court, where he will stand before Judge Raquel West.
Jackson will be defended by attorney Ryan Matuska, who declined to comment. However, on Friday Matuska said he didn’t expect the trial to take longer than a week. Prosecutor Ashley Molfino could not be reached by press time.
Just after 2 a.m. on that Easter Sunday in 2019, officers were called to the E L Lounge in the 3100 block of Concord Road. They found Darrell Howard, 43, unresponsive near the street with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He was taken to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, where he later died.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Beaumont Enterprise reported that Jackson "gave investigators a sworn statement admitting to shooting a gun in the direction of the victim."
Riley, a BPD veteran, said she had known Jackson since he was a child, The Enterprise previously wrote in 2019.
“It breaks my heart that he's in the situation he's in,” she previously said. “But a life was taken.”
meagan.ellsworth@beaumontenterprise.com
twitter.com/megzmagpie