BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On December 15th, Veniesha Hanks was shot in the neck and killed. Police arrested Dontrel Jackson, her ex-boyfriend, in connection to the case.
- Recently released court documents reveal in a statement to police, Dontrel Jackson, the person accused of her death, says he met Veniesha Hanks in November 2021 after he got out of prison, and she got pregnant with their child immediately.
- Jackson tells officers he saw Hanks outside the window and they began fighting while she tried to force the window open. As she attempted to climb in the window, he claims he tried to close it with one hand and had a firearm in the other.
Still fighting for justice in Veniesha Hanks, her mother, Vesha Cobb, tells me it’s still difficult to live without her daughter.
“She was killed due to domestic violence, and I want to make the world aware that someone cared about her,” Cobb said.
Recently released court documents reveal in a statement to police, Dontrel Jackson, the person accused of her death, says he met Veniesha Hanks in November 2021 after he got out of prison, and she got pregnant with their child immediately.
“He just appeared on the scene," she said. "We didn’t really know much about him.”
He says he broke up with her in July 2022 and says Hanks got upset about him being with other women.
“It was hot and cold," Cobb told me. "One minute their fine. Next minute they’re not.”
On the day of the incident, Jackson say he “messed around with another woman” and they woke up to banging on the window.
“From what I’m hearing, he had the baby’s car seat and the baby’s bag and she a doctors appointment the next morning, so that was the excuse to go over there,” Cobb said.
He says he went to grab his gun and told officers he keeps a firearm for protection because of his history as a documented eastside crip, but adds he no longer gang bangs because of his age.
The case summary notes Jackson is a convicted felon with history of assault with a firearm and can’t have a gun.
“You know how moms are," Cobb said. "We have that intuition of like something’s not right.”
Jackson tells officers he saw Hanks outside the window and they began fighting while she tried to force the window open.
As she attempted to climb in the window, he claims he tried to close it with one hand and had a firearm in the other.
Cobb says she found out when her sister called her.
“She got a phone call saying that they don’t know what’s going on… homicide.”
Jackson originally told police the firearm went off in his hand, but quickly recanted says he wasn’t sure if the firearm had already fallen to the floor when it went off.
“As soon as she came to the window, you should have called 911 and said there’s a crazy woman at my window," Cobb said. "You didn’t have to shoot her. You didn’t have to kill her.”
Officers were in route after 4 a.m. and found Hanks shot in the neck.
She was declared dead at the scene at 4:33 a.m.
The officers searched Jackson and found a live round of unspent ammunition in Jackson’s pocket.
They also found a semi-automatic firearm, which a record check revealed to be stolen with two additional magazines.
“It didn’t have to come to this,” Cobb said.
He allegedly assaulted Hanks in July 2022, but those charges were dropped.
The offense report and court records shows numerous domestic violence assault and threat charges dating back to 2007.
I reached out to a number listed as belonging Dontrel Jackson, but the person who answered the phone declined to speak with me.
Police arrested Jackson on March 8th and he pled not guilty at his felony arraignment.
Jackson will appear in court again on June 17th at 9 a.m.
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