Vero Beach man guilty in 2017 fatal stabbing of woman at Vero Green Apartments

VERO BEACH – A former restaurant cook faces life in prison after being convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in the 2017 brutal death of Debora Jackson, who was repeatedly stabbed outside the Vero Green Apartments west of Vero Beach.

Davalon Brinson, 38, also known as “Damony ‘Georgia-Boy’ Brinson,” of the 4600 block of 36th Avenue, was arrested after Jackson was found before dawn on June 10, 2017, in a parking lot of the Vero Green Apartments at the 2600 block of 68th Square.

Jackson, 66, was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The 172-unit apartment complex is northwest of the Indian River Mall and has a front security gate.

It took a jury less than two hours Thursday to convict Brinson of first-degree murder, aggravated battery on an elderly person with a deadly weapon and fleeing or eluding lights and sirens, according to Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman.

He said in his 26 years as a prosecutor, “this was the bloodiest crime scene” he’s ever seen.

“I would say it was something like out of a horror movie. A terrified woman, running for her life through a dark parking lot, being chased by a man slashing and stabbing her repeatedly,” Workman said Monday.  “That's the evidence that the jury saw. They saw multiple stab wounds. They saw a video where you could make her out in the darkness, running from him.”

Jackson was stabbed at least eight times; her throat was slashed and an artery in her collarbone was severed, Workman said.

“She had multiple stab wounds on her right shoulder and her back,” he said, “and she had defensive stab wounds on her hands and her wrists.”

What jurors didn’t learn though, Workman said, is why Brinson targeted Jackson.

It’s still unclear whether Brinson and Jackson knew each other before the attack, which investigators had initially said.

“That's still a big question that nobody really knows,” Workman said.

He told jurors last week there’s only two people who know what happened in the moments before the fatal attack.

“One of those people is Debora Jackson, who was murdered, and the other person was the defendant, who repeatedly lied to the police about everything that happened that night,” Workman said. “So, I don't know that we'll ever know exactly what happened.”

Brinson opted not to testify during his trial, Workman added.

What happened

Before the stabbing, a witness saw a man who matched Brinson's description walking near Jackson outside the apartments, officials said at the time.

Surveillance video showed an altercation between Brinson and Jackson before Brinson drove away from the apartments, speeding north on 58th Avenue.

That’s when he called his then-girlfriend, Jojasmine Pierre, 31, of Gifford, who later told officials Brinson called while he was being pursued, and she was able to hear sirens in the background.

Following a lengthy law enforcement chase, Brinson crashed his vehicle in the 4500 block of 43rd Avenue, which is close to Pierre's home, after deputies used mechanical devices to flatten his tires.

Brinson fled on foot, but deputies apprehended him after a search.

Arrest reports show Pierre drove off to "pick up Brinson, who was concealing himself from law enforcement," but he was apprehended after a search.

According to arrest reports, Brinson blamed Jackson’s fatal stabbing on another unidentified person.

Deputies quoted him as saying he witnessed the stabbing and “(Jackson) ran to him for help and he pushed her away.”

Pierre was arrested three days after Jackson’s murder and has pleaded not guilty to accessory after the fact and false reports regarding a capital crime.

She testified as a state witness at Brinson’s trial, but not because she’s struck a deal with prosecutors, Workman said.

“She had no deal with the state to testify,” he said. “I expect her attorney will want to talk to me about resolving her case now that she's provided substantial assistance.”

Death penalty avoided

At his May 9 sentencing, Brinson faces an automatic life prison term.

Court records show the state initially had intended to seek the death penalty against Brinson, if convicted.

In a 2017 filing, prosecutors listed the state aggravators they intended to prove in support of the death penalty, including that the crime “was committed by a person previously convicted of a felony” and that the murder was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.”

However, Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn in 2022 ruled that Brinson was “intellectually disabled” and therefore barred from a state execution.

Workman said Circuit Judge Robert Meadows delayed Brinson’s sentencing from last week to May 9 to provide time to wrap up other pending criminal cases involving charges of battery on a jail detainee.

“Since his arrest in this case … he's beaten up four other people,” Workman said.

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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at  melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach man guilty of killing Debora Jackson in 2017, faces life