Family of woman found dead sues complex, accused killer

In the months leading up to her death, Tashaun Jackson felt increasingly unsafe at her Clear Pond Estates apartment in Cocoa.

Joshua Taylor, a man who police said entered Jackson’s apartment unannounced one day in September and tried to sexually assault her, was stalking and threatening her, Jackson’s family said. She was killed in February, days after testifying against Taylor in the burglary and assault case.

On Monday, Jackson’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Taylor and the apartment complex where Jackson lived, claiming it failed to protect Jackson, 31, and others by allowing Taylor to live there.

“Our lives are forever changed,” Jackson’s aunt, Sharon Jones-Smith said Tuesday during a press conference at the Orlando Bar Association. “And what’s so sad about the situation is that it could have been prevented had the proper security been afforded to her that she was so deserving of as a resident in the Clear Pond Estate apartment.”

The suit, filed in the 18th Judicial Circuit that encompasses Brevard County, alleges Evergreen Partners LLC, PMINC, Inc., and Hot Cacao Limited Partnership, companies that developed and manage Clear Pond Estate Apartments in Cocoa, failed to provide proper security measures that could have prevented Jackson’s death.

Representatives for the companies did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday. The lawsuit does not include attorneys for the companies.

Taylor was arrested Sept. 27 after Jackson told police he entered her apartment without her permission earlier that week and told her he “wanted her for a long time,” an arrest affidavit shows. He then tried to sexually assault her, Jackson said. Taylor was arrested by Cocoa police on charges of burglary with assault and attempted sexual battery.

The lawsuit alleges Taylor had continued stalking Jackson at the apartment complex following his arrest, despite an order by a judge that prevented him from returning to the apartment complex or making contact with Jackson.

Attorneys representing Jackson’s family said Taylor was living with another tenant at Clear Pond Estates and had not signed a lease.

Greg Francis, the Orlando attorney representing Jackson’s family, said on Tuesday that the apartment complex’s management was aware Taylor was still living there after being arrested because Jackson and other women who lived there told them.

“We’re saying to the apartment complex: You knew,” Francis said.

But management failed to trespass Taylor from the property after the September incident and failed to provide proper security before or after the incident, such as surveillance cameras and guards, the suit claims.

“[T]he criminal attack and murder of the Decedent, Tashaun Jackson, was reasonably foreseeable, and Defendant was in a superior position to appreciate such hazards and take necessary steps to prevent harm to its residents and invitees,” the lawsuit states.

On the day Jackson provided a deposition in the burglary and assault case, Feb. 7, she told an employee of the apartment complex that “she was afraid of retribution” from Taylor, so the employee walked her to her apartment that night, the suit claims.

Jackson was found dead six days later in a remote area of Osceola County. About two weeks later, Taylor was arrested by Brevard County deputies on a murder and kidnapping charges in connection with her death. Prosecutors in Brevard are seeking the death penalty against him, records show.

A public defender who is representing Taylor in the murder case did not immediately respond to a call Tuesday.

A “quirky” and fun-loving mother of four young girls, Jackson remained positive despite difficulties in her life, such as having to reside in governmentfunded housing like Clear Pond Estate, Jones-Smith said.

“She made a great experience out of whatever situation she was in,” Jones-Smith said. ” She didn’t have all of the great things but she was able to provide for her children what most of us wish for, and that was love and togetherness and presence. She was always present. And now she’s not.”