Calculated Reaction Read online

  With the help of Giona and Walter–who Giona had to call–they got Janelle back home, but the situation was far from over.

  2

  Blue

  While time seemed suspended for nearly 24 hours, Janelle couldn’t continue to sit still and wait to find out what was happening to Jayson. She didn’t for one moment think her husband committed the crime which stripped her of her sister and brother-in-law.

  The following day, once she regained enough of her composure, she attempted to find out what evidence they had on Jayson. To no avail, all she could find were the basics: Jayson Alexander, 38, arrested for the murders of M’chelle Carrier-Jefferson, 40, and Trevor Jefferson, 42, on January 14. No one, including everyone she had a great working relationship with, would or could give her any further information.

  She asked Walter if he heard anything, but he told her that IA took the case effectively shutting everyone out, which kept him even further outside the realm of knowledge. He couldn’t relay anything back to her because no one would even breathe Jayson’s name around him. It wasn’t until Saturday morning, two days after the murders, that she opened the newspaper sitting at her stoop and nearly ripped it in half. The front page article led with a six column photo of Jayson being put in a police car. Above the photo the headline read:

  * * *

  RHD LIEUTENANT ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH MURDERS OF TWO HIGH-PROFILE PROSECUTORS

  By Shawn Comara - Jan. 16

  (Los Angeles - L.A. Pioneer) Police arrested 38-year-old Jayson Alexander in connection with the murders of M’chelle Carrier-Jefferson, 40, and Trevor Jefferson, 42, both of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, on the afternoon of January 14. Alexander, lieutenant over special circumstance cases in the South Bureau robbery-homicide division of the Bureau of Detectives, was alleged to have been found covered in blood and holding the murder weapon.

  On the morning of January 11, witnesses reported hearing a verbal altercation between Carrier-Jefferson and Alexander in her office. Austin Myers, Public Relations Officer for the District Attorney’s Office, said he was informed by other attorneys that Alexander shouted to Carrier-Jefferson that she would “pay for shitting the bed when it was most important,” after which time he flung open her door and stomped out of the office.

  “Jayson has provided a great deal of information and assistance to the DA’s office over the years because of his position, but I’ve never heard or seen him angry enough to threaten a colleague,” Myers said. “I don’t see why he would. The case we believe he was referring to is still undergoing proceedings, therefore he had no reason to exhibit such behavior. If he is involved in this heinous crime, it would be an astounding surprise to not only me, but many.”

  The case Myers referred to may be that of former Police Chief Ismael Serrano, 72, who was charged with fatally shooting his wife Emily Serrano, 69, while she slept in their bed on October 29. Carrier-Jefferson was first seat for the prosecution. Serrano faces one count of murder with allegations of using a handgun. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge and has been scheduled to return on January 21 in Department R of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Los Angeles Branch after which time a new attorney would be assigned. Bail is scheduled at $2,000,000. The defendant faces a possible maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged. The DA believes this inconvenience will not hinder the trial in any way.

  Alexander was said to have investigated the case himself, providing all the evidence of a simple and straight forward crime-of-passion. This is the case we believe the argument surrounded, but it was not confirmed by Myers.

  According to Detective Walter O’Hare, Alexander exhibited anger after he was called as a witness and the defense was able to get a key piece of evidence dismissed having retesting showed different results than had been submitted.

  “Sometimes Jayson can get angry, but I think that’s human nature,” O’Hare said. “I don’t think we can blame him for being upset about something going wrong on a case.”

  Alexander has been reprimanded at least three times in the recent past. He also was placed on administrative leave in June 2019 following what was considered a breach of protocol.

  The article continued on, but Janelle became too angry to finish it. She understood there would be articles regarding the situation, but as she scanned through the rest of the story, nothing spoke to his record nor his relationship to M’chelle.

  It read like an open and shut, anger-fueled, cold-blooded murder. She realized she was standing in the doorway of her home and someone had started up the walk. She drew her eyes to them and when recognition hit, her fists balled, crinkling the newspaper even more.

  “What can I do for you?” Janelle asked.

  “I was hoping to ask you a few questions.” Comara said.

  Comara, a wet-under-the-collar rookie who was eager to make a name for himself, took over her beat after she resigned from the LA Pioneer. What he was unaware of was how much of a pain in the ass Janelle could be.

  “I’d rather not.” Janelle seethed.

  “It wouldn’t be more than five minutes of your time, Janelle.” Comara said.

  “I do not give you permission to record me. Nor do I wish to speak to you and I wouldn’t be so casual seeing as though you just dragged my husband through field of thorned cacti.”

  “I’m only doing my job.” Comara smiled.

  “Your job is to provide information on a case, not speculate and make accusations.” Janelle stepped further into the house as Comara came closer.

  “I provided the information that was given to me. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t write it.”

  “Don’t try to use my words on me,” Janelle placed a hand on the door. “That’ll only cause you pain. When I write something, I never drag the accused through the mud. You are a bottom-feeder and if I see my name in any future article after I told you I do not wish to comment, I will sue you and that paper. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me.”

  With that the door slammed shut. Janelle heard Comara chuckle on the other side as she put her head in her hands and sank to the floor. She didn’t know what she could do at the moment, and the people she typically turned to in such situations were not exactly available. Giona was off gathering information for the presidential inauguration and Walter had a double homicide. Honestly, Janelle wasn’t sure what either of them could do to help her right now anyway.

  * * *

  After a long shower and contemplating a cocktail, Janelle sat on the edge of her bed. She looked back at the spot where Jayson should be sitting and became frustrated. She had to figure out what actually happened.

  She recalled Jayson and M’chelle getting into it over a case, but neither of them gave her all the details. Part of the reason was Janelle had been working on a piece regarding the mental state of police officers after they were no longer on the force, but Jayson also knew how involved Janelle would attempt to get if she smelled something foul.

  All Janelle knew of the mishap was that a tech ran an analysis incorrectly and when the defense reexamined said evidence, they came to a different conclusion. It wasn’t as though the murder weapon wasn’t registered to Mr. Serrano. That gunshot residue wasn’t on his left hand. That there hadn’t been a known strain between Serrano and his wife for months. That they’d found a plane ticket out of the country for the day following the murder. Or many other details Janelle wasn’t aware of, but that piece of evidence seemed to be important. She just had no idea what it was and Jayson nor M’chelle would tell her.

  The part that took her by surprise was that M’chelle and Trevor invited them over the following evening for dinner. There was no strain or discontent because work related issues were just that; work. Everything else was family time. Jayson played with their children while Trevor and M’chelle sat on the couch with Janelle and watched.

  “He will be so great when you guys have kids.” Trevor leaned over to tell Janelle.

  “I’ve never seen him so bubbly and excited to be around them before.” M’chelle told her.

  Janelle placed a hand on her belly and smiled a secret smile to herself.

  She planned to tell everyone once she was three months along. Now, she didn’t know how she felt about being with child. Her niece and nephew were parentless and she wasn’t sure where that left them. They were so young and impressionable. As their godmother and their aunt she wanted to take care of them, but she had the slightest clue if that meant she would be allowed to adopt them. It was one order of business she needed to take care of and it needed to happen soon. She wasn’t sure where they’d been the past two days now that she thought about it.

  They should’ve been brought to her but they hadn’t. It wasn’t as though godmother held any legal standing, but she was their aunt, the only family she knew to be in the city. She picked up the phone and made a call she was reluctant to make.

  “How may I assist you, Janelle?” Lt. Black said.

  “Wow, didn’t know I was saved in your phone.” Janelle remarked, rolling her eyes, but keeping her voice calm.

  “Caller ID is such a wonderful invention, now speak or I’m hanging up.”

  “I want to know what happened to my niece and nephew.”

  3

  Stronger

  RHD LIEUTENANT CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF CAPITAL MURDER

  By Shawn Comara - Jan. 19

  (Los Angeles - L.A. Pioneer) An attorney for Jayson Alexander, charged with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of his sister-in-law and her husband in a case that has already begun to draw statewide attention, told the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday that the evidence against Alexander was not sufficient nor substantial enough to move forward with trial.

  After Judge Jerrod Adams read the charges to Alexander and his defense, who entered a not guilty plea, Alexander was remanded to police custody with no bail. Alexander is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on January 22 at 9 a.m. in Department L of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Los Angeles Branch.

  The victims, Assistant District Attorney’s M’chelle Carrier-Jefferson and Trevor Jefferson, were found brutally murdered in their West Los Angeles residence on January 14. Alexander was said to be walking down the street covered in blood when officers approached him.

  Over the weekend Janelle met with her brother-in-law’s sister, Linette. The police took the kids to her after the incident. Linette had three children of her own and was trying to figure out how she would be able to care for two more. Neither knew the other was in town as if the police deliberately left that detail out.

  When Janelle told her she planned to adopt the children, the two women agreed they would care for them together while Janelle would have legal rights over them. They also planned to get to know one another more. Their parents vowed to assist as much as they could because their grandchildren shouldn’t be separated from family, especially at such a hard time in their young lives.

  Because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Janelle went to the courthouse on Tuesday to gather the documents in order to file for an independent adoption of her niece and nephew. What she wasn’t aware of at the time was that Jayson, and the person who had it out for him, had been sitting in a court room on a different floor of the very same building. When she got home that afternoon with her niece and nephew in tow, she found the afternoon’s newspaper on the front stoop.

  She took it, along with the children, inside and they sat quietly around the kitchen table for a while. That was until her niece, Malei, asked her a question she wasn’t sure how to answer.

  “What happened to my momma and daddy?”

  “Honey, they died.” Janelle answered.

  She was never one to hide something from children just because they were young. She thought they should be spoken to the same as anyone else. If they didn’t understand something, she would explain it.

  “Aunt Linette said uncle Jayson killed them.” TJ whispered.

  Janelle looked between the kids. Trevor “TJ” Jefferson. Malei Jefferson. She saw Trev and Mimi’s features in both their faces. They looked down at their hands. TJ, just three years old, spoke well and understood even better. M’chelle and Trevor were adamant about their children being able to communicate with others, so they’d done everything they could to improve his speech as well as Malei’s, who was seven now.

  The fact that she could communicate with them easily made her smile from both a happy and sad state of mind. Janelle was hurt that her brother-in-law’s sister would say such a thing to the children, but that’s what the LA Pioneer and many other papers made the public think.

  “Uncle Jace didn’t kill your mom and dad,” Janelle said. “He was setup. You know what setup means, right?”

  TJ shook his head, but Malei answered.

  “It’s like on the tv shows where someone else does the crime but a good guy gets the blame for it. Momma explained it to me.” she said.

  “That’s mostly correct. Sometimes the good guy is actually a bad guy, but in this case Uncle Jace is a good guy. He puts bad guys away. I think a bad guy was mad at your mommy or your daddy and they used Uncle Jace as a scapegoat – a … umm as the person to take the blame.” Janelle explained.

  “Like when I said Malei ate all the cookies?” TJ asked.

  Malei scowled at him, but nodded. “Yeah, what he said?”

  “Well, yeah. It’s kinda like that. Uncle Jayson did not hurt mommy or daddy, I promise.” Janelle said.

  “Why did Auntie Linette say he did? I heard her on the phone.” Malei said.

  “She might have been talking about the news stories, but I don’t think she would have let you come home with me if she thought he was a bad man.”

  They nodded and were resigned to that answer for the time being. Janelle went about making lunch for them and, while they were eating, started setting up the guest room. She planned to start looking for a new house once everything settled. It had been on her mind ever since she found out she was pregnant, but didn’t plan on looking for a few months. Now that things had changed, it became one of her top three priorities.

  First: prove Jayson innocent. Second: find the real killer. Third: find a new house.

  * * *

  TRIAL SET FOR RHD LT. CHARGED WITH MURDER OF SISTER-IN-LAW, HUSBAND

  By Shawn Comara - Jan. 22

  (Los Angeles - L.A. Pioneer) The preliminary hearing for Robbery-Homicide Lieutenant Jayson Alexander, who was charged with the murder of his sister-in-law, Assistant District Attorney M’chelle Carrier-Jefferson and her husband ADA Trevor Jefferson, turned into a spectacle that led to the defendant being escorted from the room this morning.

  Internal Affairs Group Detective II Timothy McCoy and Leroy Michell of the District Attorney’s Office were called as preliminary witnesses, and the State, led by District Attorney Kenneth Inglesias, introduced the evidence against Alexander. Criminal Defense Attorney Kerry Keaton, Alexander’s representation, filed a Motion to Dismiss the case based on insufficient evidence at the conclusion of the State’s argument and her cross-examination. District Court Judge Jerrod Adams denied her motion.

  Keaton then filed a Motion to Suppress McCoy’s testimony based on his bias against her client. After both attorney’s were told to approach the bench, Judge Adams denied that motion as well and set the trail for March 19. Before adjourning, Judge Adams said both sides need to “get your stuff together before stepping foot in any courtroom again because the judicial system is not a circus and I nor any other judge will not tolerate any of that nonsense again.”

  McCoy and Alexander have a history and, according to a source inside the courtroom, McCoy made a comment that caused the outburst from Alexander.

  Both Keaton and McCoy declined to comment.

  Two days later, Mrs. Keaton called Janelle because she wanted to meet with her at her office. Since Janelle had the kids, she told her it would be a little more difficult to navigate on short notice with them. Mrs. Keaton suggested meeting Janelle at her home that evening.

  “Thank you for accommodating me, Mrs. Keaton,” Janelle said as she invited her inside. “With the kids, I’m realizing I have to change a lot up.”

  “No problem at all. I like to try to help in anyway I can,” Mrs. Keaton said sitting her briefcase down on the coffee table in the living room where Janelle directed her. “You can call me Kerry, by the way.” Janelle smiled as she took a seat on the corner of the sectional and Mrs. Keaton sat in the center of it.

  “So, to what do I exactly owe this visit? You weren’t that clear over the phone.” Janelle said.

  “Well, first I’d like to ask how the children are doing?” Mrs. Keaton asked. “I know they are young, but that doesn’t mean they don’t observe and slightly understand.”

  “They’re trying to figure things out themselves. They’re upset or at least saddened by what happened to their parents. Their oldest, Malei, she pretty much grasps the situation well enough, but TJ, he’s only three,” Janelle worked to keep the grim twist of her mouth from revealing itself. “He knows they are dead and not coming home, but I don’t think it’s fully sank in for him, yet.”

  “I get so tired of seeing these babies bearing the brunt of situations like this,” Mrs. Keaton’s lips flattened. “I’m glad they have you. Under any other circumstances, I’d be saying that to make you feel better, but I know you.”

  Kerry Keaton spoke to Janelle on more than one occasion in the past. As a crime reporter, while she was still at L.A. Pioneer, and since she started her new position at the Californian Times. They were friendly, but you wouldn’t exactly call them friends.