STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. — A McDonough pastor is explaining how he talked a murder suspect into surrendering on Easter Sunday.
When Herman Jackson called his pastor Sunday morning, he was a fugitive on the run on Stockbridge's Highway 138. He had ditched his pickup truck and wanted Pastor Eddy Wright to come pick him up, Wright said. Wright said when he got there, Jackson started talking.
"He said, ‘I've really messed up.' He said, ‘Pastor, I've messed up," Wright said. "And he was weeping, and I hugged him."
Wright, of Crossray Baptist Church, told Channel 2's Eric Philips that Jackson called him during Easter Sunday service. Jackson is accused of fatally stabbing his wife, Penny, and her 10-year-old daughter, Rebecca, at their Butts County home. The pastor and his servant leader met Jackson after the service and prayed with him, Wright said.
"I said, ‘I believe you know what the right thing to do is, and that is going to turn yourself in,'" Wright said.
Wright said they took him to the Henry County Jail. The Butts County Sheriff's Office picked him up from there. The pastor said word of the killings rocked his small, tight-knit congregation.
"There was a lot of crying, a lot of tissue being used, a lot of hugging," Wright said. "Penny was the kind of person who had the biggest heart."
She had nine children, three of them adopted. Wright said he baptized Rebecca in 2009.
"She had a cute little personality, with a little spunk. But every time she saw you, she had her arms open. She wanted a hug," Wright said.
He told Philips the killings reminded him of the value of life.
"It just made me think about how we should really cherish life," Wright said.
A fund has been set up at Suntrust Bank to help support Penny Jackson's remaining children. The funeral for her and her daughter will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at Rock Springs Baptist Church in Morrow.
Previous Stories: April 25, 2011: Pastor Gets Man To Surrender In Double Murder
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