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Wisconsin Mom Of Six Killed After Trying To Help Friend Leave Allegedly Abusive Relationship
Brittany Booker had been trying to help a friend two months ago when police say the pair were "ambushed" by the friend's recent ex, Terry L. Jackson, who beat both women with a hammer. Authorities believe the man later returned to town and killed Booker.
A Wisconsin mom of six, who her family said was trying to help a friend out of an abusive relationship, was found dead in her car Sunday morning.
The prime suspect in the slaying, Terry L. Jackson Jr., 42, remains on the run and is believed to be “armed and dangerous,” according to a statement from Racine Police.
Police said they received a missing person report Sunday morning for Brittany Booker, 30. Officers then responded to her home around 9:30 a.m. and discovered Booker dead in her car.
“She was found in her vehicle around the corner from her house,” Racine Police Sgt. Kristi Wilcox told Oxygen.com.
According to Wilcox, just two months before her death, Booker had gone to a home with her friend to help the woman retrieve some belongings after that woman had ended a relationship with Jackson. They were at the home when Jackson arrived and allegedly “ambushed” the pair.
Jackson allegedly attacked Booker and another woman with a hammer, nearly killing Booker, WITI reports.
“They both sustained substantial injuries from that incident,” Wilcox said.
After the brutal attack on the two women, Jackson went on the run, and has evaded police since February.
"We have been searching for him diligently, but somehow, he has managed to [be] elusive us so far," Racine Police Chief Maurice Robinson told WITI.
Wilcox told Oxygen.com that it had been been difficult to catch Jackson because “he’s had help” evading authorities.
Investigators arrested two women this week for helping Jackson after the February attack on Booker and her friend.
Alicia K. Sykes and Carmelita L. Walker were arrested on Wednesday, police said, on charges harboring/aiding a felon after the February 27 attack.
Police now believe that Jackson subsequently returned to the area to kill Booker.
Wilcox told Oxygen.com that police discovered “Ring doorbell footage” of Jackson and Booker that showed Jackson allegedly “forced her out of the house” before she was killed.
Police also arrested Diamond M. Hood on Tuesday for harboring/aiding a felon in connection with Booker’s death, police said. According to Wilcox, Hood is accused of driving Jackson to Chicago after the slaying — although when the U.S. Marshals tried to track him down at that Chicago address they had, he was no longer there.
Booker’s father Leonard Larry told the Journal Times his daughter had lived in fear of Jackson since the February attack.
“My daughter was scared every day,” he said, recounting how she used to get out of her car and run until she was safely back inside her home.
In the aftermath of his daughter’s death, Larry has been critical of police, who he said failed to apprehend Jackson before he allegedly killed Booker.
“I did not get any support from the police,” Larry said at a vigil in memory of his daughter. “If I did, we would not be here.”
He has said the case was passed around to multiple detectives, and told the Journal News that his family was not informed about updates to the investigation.
Wilcox disputed that account, and said the original investigator assigned to the case retired and that the investigation had been passed to that investigator's partner, who was well versed in the details of the case and in contact with Booker before she died.
“It is a tragedy beyond measure for six children to be without their mother,” Robinson said.
Wilcox called Booker’s death “tragic all the way around.”
At a vigil, Wednesday night, Booker’s friends and family joined together to honor the slain mother of six.
“She’s touched everybody in her own way,” friend Briana Schuster told local station WISN. “She was one of a kind.”
A Crime Stoppers reward of $2,000 has been offered to anyone with information on Jackson’s current whereabouts, police said. Wilcox cautioned that anyone who sees Jackson should not try to approach him and should contact authorities immediately.
