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A chilling
tale of premeditated parenticide committed by an adult daughter
living with her mother and her boyfriend secretly hiding in the
closet.
Former boyfriend, Corey
Demetrius Jackson, 22, recalled his love affair with Jennifer Jeter,
26, aka Jennifer Lynn Blake.
They met in September 1999 while working at a restaurant. ``She
had a great personality,'' he testified.
On the night of December 10, 2000, Jackson entered Jeter's room
and found her and sitting on her bed, crying, plotting ways to kill
her mother, Kathy Kraynik, 46. Jeter stayed up late, deciding to
kill her mother in the morning. She considered hitting her mother
in the head with a hammer while she was in her car, then she thought
about drowning her. ``She told me her mind was made up, I didn't
know what to do.''
She told him about alleged childhood incidents, such as her mother
choking her once. Jackson said her mother threatened to hit her
with a hammer and her accepted money from a man who fondled her.
Her mother planned to evict her and testify against her in a child
custody case.
The morning of her killing, her mother had no idea Jackson was in
her home.
The plan was for Jeter to attack her when she woke at 5:30 am for
her morning cup of coffee. Jackson hid in Jeter's room, waiting
for a signal to join in the attack. ``She said: `I hate you,' and
that was my cue to come out,'' Jackson testified.
``She didn't know the danger in her house,'' Deputy Commonwealth's
Attorney Lori Galbraith told the jury during opening statements.
``She didn't know the life she brought into this world would take
away hers.''
Jeter's 7 year old daughter was in the house the morning of the
slaying. She testified from her grandmother's bedroom she heard
her grandmother screaming, ``Jenny stop.''
Jackson took a sock off his foot during the struggle and stuffed
it in Kraynik's mouth. Kraynik's 145 pounds, was no match for the
two. Her death was ruled a combination of strangulation and suffocation.
To ensure Kraynik was not breathing, they put her head into a tub
of water to check for air bubbles.
Commonwealth's Attorney Randall ``Randy'' Smith said both Jeter
and Jackson had their hands around Kraynik's neck the morning she
was killed, but it was Jeter who devised the killing. ``It originated
with her, she had the idea.''
``They're not the most brilliant criminal agents,'' Smith said.
After the killing, Jeter purchased a 20 gallon metal trash can.
They tried to dispose of her body by burning it in the trash can
in the garage, but the smoke spread into the house. After 35 - 40
minutes, they doused the body with water, then put it in the trunk
of the car. They drove around looking for a wooded area to dump
the body, but got stuck when Jeter drove the car
down a muddy road. With the body still in the trunk they went to
a nearby house for help. Later, they dumped the body in Northampton
County, NC. They planned to return to bury the body, but Jeter could
not bring herself to seeing her mother's body again.
It was discovered 2 weeks later, frozen and wrapped in sheets. A
sock still stuffed in her mouth.
It took a jury just over an hour to agree that Jennifer Jeter strangled
her mother in December 2000 and schemed to dispose of the body.
In a plea bargain with prosecutors, Jackson agreed to testify against
Jeters. Jackson pleaded guilty in September 2001 to 2nd degree murder.
Jackson of Garysburg,
NC, faces up to 40 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced
Feb. 19, 2002.
Jeter's attorney, Stephen P. Givando, told the jury that Jackson,
obsessed with Jeter, was in Kraynik's house. When Kraynik discovered
he was living in her daughter's room, she was killed.
Givando said Jackson was facing life in prison and is looking out
for himself. ``Survival, folks, is what this case is all about,
Mr. Jackson's survival at the expense of Mrs. Jeter. She's a mixed-up
kid, she's had a messed up life. . . but she did not do the things
she was accused of doing.'' Givando told the jury.
After a 4 day trial in Chesapeake Circuit Court, Jeter, 26, was
convicted in the 1st degree killing of her mother. Jeter faces life
in prison.
Kraynik's family had no comment.
Source: Virginia
Pilot
Copyright Kari Sable 1994-2006
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