A mother, Jerrica Spellman, and her three children were all found dead in their home in Columbus, Georgia on Wednesday.
Spellman’s boyfriend, Travane Brandon Jackson, who had custody of all three children and is described by relatives as a great father, was arrested a few hours later and charged with four counts of murder (family violence).
The 27-year-old man was booked in county jail, and a preliminary hearing is set for later today. According to police sources, a long history of domestic violence might be behind the tragedy.
Exact circumstances of the incident are not known yet, but police are investigating a possible stabbing attack.
The mom was 29 years old, while her three kids were between one month and three years old. King Jackson was the oldest, Kensley Jackson was one year old, and Kristen Jackson was the youngest.
It is not clear when exactly the attack happened and how it went down, and there has been ongoing speculation on that front.
Authorities were reportedly alerted to the fact that people were likely deceased in the area, although it is not known who submitted the tip and where they had the information from initially.
Major Hawk, of the Columbus Police Department, told WTVM 9 on the fateful evening: “Officers received information to come into this area concerning possible individuals being deceased. Upon arrival, they (officers) did find four individuals that are deceased. We are in the preliminary investigation stages, trying to figure out what happened… We’ll be here pretty much for a long night.”
Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan, who has since completed the different autopsies, had this surprising reaction: “The kinds of cases where you have to thank god for giving you the strength to do this job.”
Police are still trying to figure out precisely what happened in the first place.
Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren revealed: “This was a horrendous scene. It’s an ongoing investigation. They were in a relationship for several years. There was an ongoing domestic violence relationship between herself and the suspect.”
They have urged anyone with more information about the case to come forward and assist them.
It looks like there are many unknown factors on the table right now, further fueling the already ongoing speculation about the tragic incident.
Moreover, official details have been coming out at a very slow pace, frustrating some who have been trying to find out more about the quadruple Colombus murder ever since it went down.
Spellman, who many in the community described as an upbeat person and great mother, had filed a domestic violence report in 2017. Jackson got arrested at the time.
