Funeral of manslaughter victim Ebony Jackson held

CAHOKIA • Friends and relatives offered tearful tributes Saturday at the funeral service for Ebony Jackson, who was found shot to death in her car's trunk in St. Louis four days after her baby was discovered abandoned in Breckenridge Hills.

Her mother, Stella Jackson, told the audience of about 200 at Power of Change Christian Center that her daughter had been strong, determined and "feisty." Jackson, at times struggling to speak, read aloud a tribute she wrote her daughter after she was found slain on Jan. 8.

"I know that your soul is in a much better place," Jackson said. "My ultimate understanding is that you were the greatest gift from God."

Jackson, of the Denver area, added that "there is no greater pain than losing a child."

"I'd give you every ounce of my air to let you breathe," the victim's mother said. "Ebony, I will always love you from the bottom of my heart."

Jackson, 30, of Moore, Okla., was found dead inside the trunk of her 2004 Mitsubishi Galant, which detectives discovered parked in the 4400 block of Elmbank Avenue, in St. Louis. Four days earlier, her 3-month-old son, Donavon Prom, was found abandoned but unhurt in his car seat inside an apartment complex hallway in Breckenridge Hills. Authorities had no link between the complex and Jackson.

An autopsy revealed she died from a single gunshot wound behind one ear.

Several ministers spoke at Jackson's two-hour funeral. Among them was the Rev. Kevin Jacques of Gregg Chapel AME Church, in St. Louis, who stood near the victim's casket and said he hopes that "whoever committed this senseless act comes to justice."

Pastor Amber Cole, representing the Homicide, Ministers & Community Alliance, said police are working to find Jackson's killer.

"We tell you we're here for you," Cole said. "We love you and this is not the end of the matter."

Cole's group, organized in 2009, is a collaboration of St. Louis police manslaughter detectives, church leaders in the St. Louis area and community groups.

Also speaking was Pine Lawn Police Chief Rickey Collins who has helped with reward fundraising efforts. He said he had received a phone message in which the caller pledged $ 5,000 to the reward fund for information leading to Jackson's killer. Collins said later the pledge raised the fund's total to $ 14,000.

Relatives have said that on Jan. 2 Jackson left the home she shared with the baby's father, Craig Prom, just outside Oklahoma City, to visit family members in East St. Louis. They said Jackson had left Prom a note saying that she needed her space.

Authorities have yet to determine where Jackson was killed or whether she had been in Breckenridge Hills.

On Saturday, Jackson's funeral included numerous tributes, singers, musicians and an interpretive dance.

Jackson's body left the church in an antique, glass-sided hearse pulled by two Percheron draft horses. Her body was to be cremated.

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