HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – A jury found a Conway woman guilty of murdering the father of her children Tuesday.
The jury found Meagan Jackson guilty on one count of murder in connection with Gregory Rice’s death in October 2020.
A judge sentenced Jackson to life in prison.
This is a breaking news update. Previous story below.
The fate of a Conway woman is now in a Horry County jury’s hands.
Meagan Jackson is standing trial for the death of Gregory Rice, the father of Jackson’s children.
Jackson is accused of kidnapping and shooting Rice in October 2020. Authorities found Rice’s body along the Little Pee Dee River near Pitts Landing off Highway 378 at the Horry/Marion County line about a month later.
Jackson chose not to testify in the case on Tuesday as the state and defense rested their cases.
During closing arguments, the state again claimed that this case is “a tale as old as time” about an affair and pregnancy that led to murder. The state also claimed that Jackson would be the only one to benefit from Rice’s murder.
Meanwhile, the defense asserts that Jackson’s outing of her affair with former Horry County deputy coroner and star witness Chris Dontell is not a crime and that the state cannot prove things that happened at the time of the crime, nor determine a crime scene location.
The defense also alleged that the evidence in the case points to Dontell, who admitted to helping dispose of Rice’s body, being the real killer.
The jury began deliberating around noon on Tuesday.
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On Friday, the most recent day in the trial, only one witness took the stand, a digital data expert with the Horry County Sheriff’s Office who shared some content from Jackson’s cell phone leading up to the day she allegedly killed Rice.
Lt. Ben Wells with the electronic crimes unit revealed to the court a text-free phone number exposed the affair between Jackson and former Horry County Deputy Coroner Chris Dontell to his wife, Erica, who also testified to receiving the anonymous text on Thursday.
Jackson’s messages on Friday revealed that she told Dontell that Rice had threatened to tell Erica about the affair out of rage.
“The 1-844 number, which is listed as Chris Dontell, ‘double homicide, call you in a couple of minutes.’ It’s been a couple of minutes, and I’m panicking; you’re not going to be able to lie, he’s not going to care, and he has enough proof,” Wells said.
Star witness in this case, Dontell, who has already pleaded guilty to helping Jackson with the murder of Rice, took the stand on Friday.
He testified under oath that he never knew Jackson was going to kill Rice, until he says she pulled out a gun and shot him on October 2, 2020, from inside of her vehicle, while Dontell was in the driver’s seat, and she was riding shotgun.
However, a text message thread revealed in the courtroom on Friday showed Jackson and Dontell planning to harm Rice just four days before he died.
“‘I’m all for popping a tire or cutting a brake line on him.’” From Chris Dontell, his reply was “‘Unfortunately, I am too now,’” Wells read from the text messages.
On Wednesday, retired Horry County police Lt. Mark Bonne said that they found a handgun box that belonged to a 22-caliber handgun, adding that a 22-caliber round killed Rice.
It is not confirmed or denied whether the gun box found belonged to the murder weapon.
Dontell will be sentenced for his crimes after Jackson’s trial.
Stay with WMBF News for updates on Jackson’s trial.
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