New Haven man gets 12 years in 2013 Bridgeport murder

BRIDGEPORT — For Jacqueline Pettway it has been a long road to get justice for her son, who was shot and killed while standing on a North End street corner in 2013.

Raashon “Red Dreads” Jackson was convicted seven years ago of the murder of 26year-old LaChristopher Pettway only to have that conviction overturned.

On Wednesday the 33year-old New Haven man was sentenced to 12 years for the crime along with a newer gun charge.

“Mr. Jackson got a second chance but my son didn’t get any chance,” a crying Jacqueline Pettway told Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton. “He is a menace to society. You are a killer,” she told Jackson who stood a few feet from her in the courtroom.

“Mr. Jackson I want you to know I’m very angry,” she added.

Dayton told Pettway she couldn’t imagine the pain of losing a child.

“It’s a rough situation and while nobody is happy with the disposition, and Mr. Pettway’s family would like substantially more time, I believe in the interest of closure this is an appropriate disposition,” the judge said.

She then sentenced Jackson, who pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and two gun charges, to 25 years, suspended after he serves 12 years in prison and followed by five years of probation.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Edward Lee Miller had urged the judge to impose the plea deal. The prosecutor said while the state had been prepared to retry the case there were a number of “pitfalls” that could affect a verdict, including the fact that the state’s key witness in the case was killed in a car crash.

“Mr. Jackson is ready to put this behind him,” Jackson’s lawyer, Kara Moreau, told the judge.

He will get credit for the seven years he has already served in prison.

Jackson and Roderick “Little Ricky” Rogers were accused of spraying bullets into a crowd of men and teens at the corner of Reservoir and Grandview avenues on Sept. 10, 2013. Pettway, 26, was killed and 19year-old Aijahlon Tisdale and two 15-year-olds were wounded.

After a two-week trial in November 2017, a jury found Rogers and Jackson guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and four counts of first-degree assault with a firearm. Jackson was sentenced to 55 years in prison while Rogers was given a 45year term.

However, in February 2020, the state Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Jackson.

In the decision, written by Justice Andrew McDonald, the state’s highest court ruled that the trial judge abused his discretion when he allowed prosecutors to call as a witness an expert on cellphone locations late in the case, preventing the defense from getting an expert of its own to refute the evidence. The case against Rogers was not overturned.

In August 2022, Jackson was free on $1 million bond while awaiting a retrial when he was charged with numerous gun charges after State Police said they found a gun loaded with a highcapacity magazine in Jackson’s car on Route 8.

According to State Police, shortly after 10 a.m. a trooper was patrolling Route 8 north when a Ford sedan with tinted windows passed him at high speed.

The trooper pulled the car over and while talking to the driver, later identified as Jackson, he spotted a handgun in the car, state police said. When the trooper called in backup, State Police said Jackson took off running.

During the foot chase, police said Jackson leaped off an overpass onto a grass hill about 20 feet below, injuring his leg. He was taken into custody.

State Police said when troopers subsequently searched Jackson’s car they found a .40-caliber handgun loaded with a high-capacity magazine.

Jackson