CANTON, Ga. (TCN) — A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison after entering a negotiated guilty plea in connection with the five-hour assault and rape of a woman who came to his apartment to provide cleaning services.
The Cherokee County District Attorney announced the sentencing of Ezekiel Lamar Jackson on May 28. He pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated sodomy, two counts of aggravated battery, and one count each of terroristic threats and kidnapping.
An investigation into the case began on April 6 when a hospital reported they had treated a woman who had been raped and physically assaulted. On April 5, the woman, whose name has not been released, answered a request from Jackson posted on the Nextdoor app asking for someone to come clean his apartment.
When she arrived the following morning, Jackson allegedly attacked her by stabbing her in the eye with a screwdriver and putting his fingers down her throat to stop her from screaming, according to the DA. He then applied pressure to her neck, which caused her to feel faint, fall and hit her head on a countertop. Over the next five hours, he restrained and repeatedly sexually assaulted her while threatening to kill her if she tried to leave.
She convinced Jackson to let her to go to the hospital for the eye injury and promised she would say she had just hit her head on the counter. Jackson waited for her while she was treated, and when she was transferred to intensive care for an orbital fracture and brain bleeds, he was arrested in the hospital waiting room, according to the DA.
During a search warrant executed at Jackson’s home, authorities found the screwdriver, bloody towel, and first aid supplies, and also learned that 15 people had responded to his cleaning request. All of them except the victim were male or from a company.
Assistant District Attorney Kelly Chavis said, “Evidence suggests this defendant intentionally targeted this victim because she was a woman working alone. … He is a dangerous man, and the brutality of his actions is shocking. The victim demonstrated great courage and strength, and ultimately saved her own life in the face of such evil.”
CBS reports that following the life sentence with the possibility of parole, Jackson must serve 40 years of probation.
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