The trial for Alexander Jackson began in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Jackson is accused of murdering his father Jan, mother Melissa and sister Sabrina in June of 2021. 

Jackson has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder after calling Cedar Rapids police on June 15, 2021, claiming he was woken up by the sound of gunshots. He said an intruder had shot him and his father. 

When the Cedar Rapids Police Department (CRPD) arrived at the Jackson home they saw, “no signs of forced entry or any indication the home had been burglarized,” said CRPD to KCRG. 

Jackson was arrested following treatment at St. Luke’s Hospital for a gunshot wound to the foot. Prosecutors believe the gunshot wound was self-inflicted by Jackson to cover up the murder of his family.

In the weeks following the murders, Kennedy held a vigil for Sabrina Jackson who graduated from Kennedy in 2020. Sabrina was studying genetics at the University of Iowa and had completed her freshman year at the time of the murders. 

Friends and former teachers of Jackson say they never would’ve pictured him to be in this place. 

”He was such a, really promising you know he was an eagle scout. He was doing good in school, he was at the University of Iowa, [and he had a] lot of friends,” said a friend of Jackson’s to KCRG.

Jackson’s trial is expected to take nine days. If convicted Jackson could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.