Additional “injury to child” charge
Posted/updated on: March 9, 2026 at 2:20 am
TYLER — A man who was arrested in early 2025 in connection to a Tyler apartment shooting that left a woman dead has been additionally charged with injury to a child by a grand jury on Feb. 26.
Jorian Jackson of Plano was arrested on Jan. 22, 2025, for allegedly murdering his ex-girlfriend, Cheyenne Russell, in a Tyler apartment shooting. According to our news partner KETK, on Jan. 6, 2025, two children found their mother’s body and alerted an adult after an apartment shooting on Bellwood Lake Road. Upon arrival, Tyler Police Department officers made contact with Russell’s roommate, who found her dead on a couch underneath a blanket with blood on her face.
According to arrest documents, Jackson was at the apartment that day to drop off some Christmas presents for a child of his and Russell’s. The roommate told officials that the victim and Jackson had a rough relationship.
There were two children present at the time of the shooting, one of which being Jackson and Russell’s child. The oldest child had alerted the roommate that their mom was dead. Later on, after being taken to the Child Advocacy Center, the children said in a forensic interview that Jackson and Russell had been fighting.
After two weeks of searching for Jackson, the Tyler Police Department located him at his grandmother’s house while serving a search warrant. His grandparents, Carolyn Johnson and Willie Johnson, were both arrested on Jan. 22, 2025, for hindering apprehension.
Jackson was arrested the same day and booked into Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond for first-degree murder, where he is still being held.
On Feb. 26, 2026, a grand jury of the 114th Judicial District Court of Smith County indicted Jackson of injury to a child 14 years of age or younger.
According to court documents, the court found reasoning that Jackson “did intentionally and knowingly cause serious mental deficiency, impairment or injury” to the two children who were present at the time of the shooting and by leaving them with no adult supervision.
Jackson’s trial is set for May 12.
