By La Shawn Pagán
Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A man convicted in the 2002 slaying of a Chattanooga police officer has been freed from prison.
Isaac Eugene Jones III was released from the Tennessee Department of Correction on Aug. 5, according to the department website.
In 2005, Jones was charged with first-degree murder and subsequently found guilty of a lesser second-degree murder charge and sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for the shooting death of Chattanooga police officer Julie Jacks.
Jones’ release comes 18 years after his 2005 conviction. He was eligible for pre-trial credit for the time he was held before the trial, and his sentence expired Aug. 5 after serving 21 years, Public Information Officer Robert A. Reburn of the Correction Department said in an email.
On May 6, 2002, Jacks was trying to arrest a then-20-year-old Jones after he fled Parkridge Medical Center where he was taken for a mental evaluation, according to Chattanooga Times Free Press archives.
Jacks, who was near the area, responded to a call to assist in locating Jones after he fled Parkridge and came across him at the intersection of Vine and Kilmer streets when a struggle ensued between the two.
Jacks was heard saying “he’s going for my gun” over the radio before Jones fatally shot her three times with Jacks’ .45-caliber service firearm, according to Times Free Press archives.
Jacks died on Vine Street, near Parkridge Medical Center.
Jacks had been with the Chattanooga Police Department for three years and was voted rookie of the year in 2001, according to Times Free Press archives, which also said more than 460 marked police cars and 40 law enforcement agencies across the Southeast moved through Chattanooga to honor Jacks.
In 2010, Jones filed an appeal for a new trial, saying he was not adequately represented during the 2005 trial that led to his conviction. He filed another appeal in 2011 making the same claims of inadequate representation. Both appeals were denied.
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