Video: Candace Jackson sentenced to 50 for murder conviction

Just hours after her brother O'Shea Jackson was sentenced to 40 years in prison on a murder charge, county resident Candace Jackson received a 50-year sentence Thursday in an unrelated murder.

Both decisions were handed out by Judge Michael Traynor at the St. Johns County courthouse.

Candace Jackson, 25, was convicted of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery during a May trial.

Jackson was driving an SUV in the parking lot of a bank on U.S. 1 South when the vehicle struck girlfriend Shaina Armstrong and her mother, Rosa Lee Armstrong. Rosa Lee was killed and Shaina was injured in the crash.

The prosecution claimed it was intentional and that Jackson was accelerating through impact. Jackson claimed it was accidental.

"I ain't got the guts to harm nobody like that," Jackson told the court Thursday. "I'd really grown to love those people. I can't hurt nobody."

Assistant State Attorney Robert Mathis said the evidence told a different story.

He said Jackson had a history of domestic violence, and the May 10, 2013, incident in the parking lot was just a continuation of that.

"She was on probation for domestic battery at the time of this incident," Mathis said. "The victim of that probation was, in fact, one of the victims in case, Shaina Armstrong. She has a clear course of domestic abuse, domestic violence in her history. There's nothing to show that's slowed down whatsoever.

"Because of the fact that this was a killing that began as part of a domestic battery (incident), that's why I ask for 50 years."

No one from the Armstrong family chose to speak publicly about their loss. However, a letter from Stephan Armstrong was read by Mathis.

In the letter, Armstrong talked about his own difficulty in coping with the loss of his wife of 37 years and of Shaina's battle with depression as a result of what happened to her and her mother.

"I met her in first grade," Stephan wrote of his wife. "I took care of her for 22 years with her heart condition. She was my best friend and my life.

"I still hear her scream when I shut my eyes. My daughter is still having nightmares."

Defense attorney Raymond Warren asked the judge to give Jackson a sentence on the low end of the guidelines, arguing that the state had not proved his client acted with premeditation or intent.

"I'm asking the court to exercise its discretion," Warren said.

Jackson's mother, grandfather, brother and uncle each addressed the court. They all asked for leniency and to give her another chance.

Even Candace is hoping for a new opportunity to live her life.

"Whatever you give me, I will settle for it, but I know that this is not me," she said. "I should be in school right now. I want to make something out of my life.

"I'm not even down because I know God ain't going to let this go through. Something is going to come through because I'm not the prison type."

Traynor did not say anything about the case before handing out the 50-year sentence for the murder conviction. He also gave her 30 years on the attempted murder and 15 years on the aggravated battery charges. But all sentences will be served concurrently.