Columbus man sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for fatally shooting girlfriend
Jordan Laird
A Columbus man is facing life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 18 years for murdering his girlfriend in 2021 at her West Side apartment.
A Franklin County jury convicted 33-year-old Cortez J. Jackson in April of murdering 34-year-old Alyse S. Edwards.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Karen Phipps sentenced Jackson on Thursday.
Jackson told Columbus police at first that somebody else shot Edwards on the morning of Aug. 19, 2021. Jackson later testified at his trial in April that he was trying to wrestle the gun away from Edwards when it accidentally went off.
On April 6, the jury found Jackson not guilty of one count of murder but guilty of another count of murder, essentially determining Jackson did not purposefully cause Edward's death but at least caused her death while committing felonious assault. The jury also found Jackson guilty of tampering with evidence.
Phipps found Jackson guilty of possessing a weapon under disability, or having a gun as a convicted felon.
Edwards and Jackson have multiple children together. Their 3-year-old daughter was in the apartment at the time of the fatal shooting.
Jackson's defense attorney, Jeffrey Basnett, did not immediately return The Dispatch's request for comment on Thursday.
Past reporting:Columbus man found guilty of fatally shooting girlfriend in her apartment in 2021
More past reporting:Suspected gunmen arrested — one by U.S. Marshals — in two separate killings on West Side
The shooting of Alyse Edwards
The shooting happened at Edwards' apartment in the 3700 block of Eakin Road, near Wedgewood Drive in Columbus' Hilltop neighborhood.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud argument between Jackson and Edwards before a gunshot. Edwards was then seen stumbling out of her apartment into the hallway, bleeding from her torso, followed by Jackson.
Edwards was transported to OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, where she died.
Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Meyer said during the trial nobody else was observed near the apartment around the time of the shooting. A shell casing was found in the apartment's kitchen and a trail of blood led into the hallway, according to Meyer.
More court news:Prosecutor says witnesses told police that 13-year-old Sinzae Reed fired first at Krieg Butler
jlaird@dispatch.com
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