In Houston, a man and his fiancée were taken into custody for abducting his 4-year-old son following an incident where he unlawfully entered his ex-girlfriend’s residence and threatened her with a firearm.
Investigators say part of the crime was captured on surveillance video, obtained by ABC Houston affiliate KTRK.
Jonmario Jackson and Ashley Hunter were both charged with aggravated kidnapping, and Jackson faces an additional burglary charge.
According to the victim’s report to KTRK and law enforcement, she contacted the police on Monday morning after receiving menacing text messages from Jackson.
“I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna execute you,” she said Jackson told her.
Just after 1 p.m., she said she called police again when Jackson showed up at her southwest Houston apartment complex.
Surveillance footage captures him carrying a trash can as he approaches her apartment stairs. Shortly after, the sound of the door being forcefully kicked in can be heard, which the victim identified as Jackson’s actions.
“Please don’t kill me. No! Please!” you can hear the victim screaming on the video as she said Jackson forced her into a bedroom with two of her children.
“That’s when he gets on top of me, throws my blanket over my head, and that’s when he presses a gun towards my head,” she told Eyewitness News.
The victim fears Jackson might have pulled the trigger had her 10-year-old son not intervened.
“My son came from under the bed, and he was screaming, ‘Mom! Mom! You’re gonna kill my mom! Please don’t kill my mom,'” she said.
The victim said her 4-year-old son ran from the room and was quickly snatched up by Jackson’s fiancée.
“She could have told him, ‘Stop. Don’t do this, or something,” the victim said.
The surveillance video shows her following Hunter down the stairs, shouting, “Give me my baby!”
Jackson then emerges and confronts a neighbor attempting to document what was happening.
“What you ’bout to record? What you ’bout to record? Give me this [expletive] phone,” he can be heard saying, before following Hunter.
It wasn’t until around 9 p.m. that police arrested Jackson at the north Harris County apartment where he lives with his mother. Then, the victim’s son was returned.
“I believe that God really had my back. I know that God – it was between my son and God,” the victim said.
Jackson’s mother told KTRK that he never pulled a gun on his ex and said, “He’s not like that.” She also described him as “sweet.”
Court records show Jackson was arrested in 2022 for threatening the same woman and in 2009 for beating another woman.
His mother said he has visitation rights with his son on holidays, like Memorial Day. Court records, however, say he’s only supposed to see his son every other weekend.
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