Juvenile receives life sentence after pleading guilty to murder

Antonio Grigsby Jr.
Antonio Grigsby Jr.

TEXARKANA, Texas - A juvenile accused of capital murder in a fatal December 2019 shooting was sentenced to life in prison Monday after pleading guilty to the lesser offense of first-degree murder.

Antonio Grigsby Jr., 17, was just 15 when he shot 18-year-old Amilleon Jackson five times in the back in the parking lot of a Texarkana, Texas, apartment complex at 39 Riverbend on Dec. 22, 2019. Grigsby was certified to stand trial as an adult last year and his case was scheduled for jury selection Tuesday before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.

First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said Grigsby's lawyer, Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, contacted her office Monday morning about a plea agreement. Because of his age at the time of the killing, Grigsby is not eligible for the punishment adults face for capital murder, death or life without parole.

In Texas, a juvenile convicted of capital murder is sentenced to life with parole possible after 40 years. Grigsby's plea to first-degree murder means he could be eligible for parole after 30 years and may serve less time in prison.

 

Crisp noted for the record that Jackson's mother, Heather Humes, consented to the plea bargain. Harrelson said he consulted with Grigsby's mother in advance of the plea hearing because of his age.

Humes addressed Grigsby at the end of the hearing.

"I hope that one day I find it in my heart to forgive you," Humes said.

The grieving mother said she wonders if Grigsby would have so callously murdered her son if he'd known he was her only child.

"As I held A.J. in my arms as he lay bleeding, I felt my heart stop when his heart stopped," Humes said, recalling the horror of the moments after her child was fatally shot. "I don't ever want any mother to feel what I did."

Humes recalled how many friends she didn't even know her son had contacted her after his death to describe the positive impact he had on their lives. She told Grigsby that her son would have been a friend to him too if he had simply let him.

Humes said she hopes her son will not be remembered for how he died, but how he lived.

Before Grigsby was escorted by deputies back to the Bowie County jail, Tidwell offered to allow Grigsby's mother to hug him goodbye, noting such is his custom for defendants sentenced to lengthy terms.

"I really battled with that this time," Tidwell said, alluding to the reality that Humes will never hug her only son again.

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