One victim "went south" even while in witness relocation. Another didn't show for court because jailers failed to get him there from prison.
In court this year, Erdely told a judge that Jackson had amassed an "exceptionally frightening" criminal record, despite his age.
As he sat beside his defense attorney, Jackson, in his Ralph Lauren polo shirt and khaki cargo pants, looked not a day older than his 19 years. His baby face was not unmarked, though. A long scar bisected his right cheek. Two tear tattoos fell from his left eye, marking losses that included the 2005 gun murder of an older brother.
Over two weeks in the spring of 2006, police said, Jackson fired at three people.
First, police said, he shot Terrance Green, 18, in the left thigh in April 2006, apparently in a fight over a girl.
Then he went after the two buddies of Green who had seen him shoot their friend, police said. Eleven days after he shot Green, Jackson fired eight times at Cedric Porter, 17.
Three days after that, police said, he took aim at a third target, Lawrence Temple, 15.
Detectives arrested him in all three shootings, and prosecutors won court approval to try him as an adult.
In December 2006, while out on bail, Jackson reached for a gun yet again, police said, shooting up the North Philadelphia corner. He allegedly fired at five young men, ages 15 to 19. The bullets hit two of them.
But only one of those five targets would talk to detectives - and he later recanted his statement. All five cases were dismissed or withdrawn.
The Temple case collapsed, too. Fearful for their son, the Temples moved far out of state. They ignored subpoenas to return to Philadelphia to testify.
"We're never coming back," his mother told one of Erdely's colleagues.
Still two chances
Six cases had now unraveled.
