12/22/2022
California – As the San Diego County jury read its verdict against Jade Sasha Janks, the 39-year-old Solana Beach resident’s eyes widened and she appeared to be in stunned disbelief as she turned toward her defense lawyer.
“They’ve been excellent and patient and kind and attentive throughout this whole trial and we’re just happy we achieved some justice for Tom and his family,” the prosecutor told reporters outside of the courtroom in Vista.
Merriman was killed on Dec. 31, 2020, not long after Janks found the compromising photos on Merriman’s computer.
Janks drugged Merriman and then suffocated him with a plastic bag and choked him to death, prosecutors said. A text message Janks sent to an acquaintance the day of Merriman’s death, and shown to jurors, read: “I just dosed the hell out of him.”
Janks’ defense insisted Merriman died from poor health and his own chronic drug abuse. Merriman’s official cause of death was listed as an overdose of prescription sleep medication.
Defense lawyer Marc Carlos said he’s evaluating all avenues for appeal. He conceded that text messages Janks sent were pivotal in the jury’s decision to convict his client.
Jurors also rejected lesser charges such as manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, which could have allowed a judge to consider mitigating circumstances at sentencing.
As it stands now, Janks is facing a mandatory 25 to life when she’s next in court on April 3.
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