Former five-star recruit Janzen Jackson once had a bright future ahead of him, but a long football career never seemed to be in the cards after he left high school thanks to off-the-field issues.
Last month, the former highly touted defensive back was charged in a Los Angeles courthouse with murder.
Jackson was an Army All-American cornerback who was part of a star-studded recruiting class put together by former coach Lane Kiffin back in 2009. He earned All-SEC second-team honors as a sophomore starter for the Vols, but was dismissed in 2011 by then-coach Derek Dooley for disciplinary reasons. He wound up at FCS school McNeese State to finish up his college career and later participated in the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine.
The New York Giants signed Jackson as an undrafted free agent, but he was released before the season started. He also spent part of 2013 with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.
According to the Los Angeles Register, Jackson headed to Los Angeles and spent time with his great-uncle and mother who lived in the area. Jackson's mother reportedly called mental health workers in August to evaluate Jackson after he began acting strangely and talking to himself in an odd manner.
In September, the former defensive back allegedly strangled 43-year-old Frank Herrera, who was the boyfriend of Jackson's mother at the time. Prosecutors told the court Jackson left Herrera's body in a car near his great-uncle's house and surveillance video shows him dragging a large bundle out of the apartment building the two were living in at the time.
Jackson told police he was the person in the video, according to the Register, but said the bag was a part of his workout routine.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's records obtained by the Knoxville News Sentinel show that Jackson is being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in California and has a court appearance scheduled for July 15.
Jackson's father is a highly regarded former high school coach in the state of Louisiana and currently serves as the defensive coordinator at McNeese State.
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