On Thursday, the jury deliberated for about 30 minutes before returning with a guilty verdict. The sentencing phase began and concluded Friday.
TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man was sentenced to life in prison for killing a mother of four with a machete in May 2022.
Jurors sentenced David Michael Thompson, 51, who was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend Jaci Wilkerson, 40, Thursday afternoon, to life in prison Friday afternoon, court officials confirmed.
His trial began Wednesday in the 475th District Court. On Thursday, the jury deliberated for about 30 minutes before returning with a guilty verdict. The sentencing phase, where witnesses were called to testify as well, began and concluded Friday.
Wilkerson was found dead at Thompson’s apartment in Tyler in the early morning hours of May 25, 2022, with severe head trauma, police said. An arrest affidavit stated officers found a bloody machete on Thompson’s bed and blood on a pillow in Thompson’s room as well as blood on the walls and doors.
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Thompson’s roommate said Thompson and Wilkerson had a “violent” relationship, and Thompson was crazy, bipolar, and had a violent personality, the affidavit read. Wilkerson had sought a protection order against Thompson, which he violated, according to police.
Family, friends and co-workers told our news partners, the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Wilkerson was an empathetic, loving and “truly irreplaceable” woman.
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