A man first labeled a person of interest in the fatal shooting of a former college basketball coach in Atlanta last week has been charged as the suspected killer, officials said.
Iquane Brown, 30, was already in custody in Houston County on separate charges related to a suspected armed robbery when he was charged with the fatal shooting out of Fulton County on Monday, according to Atlanta police. He is accused of killing 60-year-old Sammy Jackson, the former head coach of the men’s basketball teams at Fort Valley State College and Savannah State College.
Jackson’s family reported him missing out of Peach County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported, and investigators found his car in Bonaire on Jan. 27. Two days later, the Houston sheriff’s office asked Atlanta police to investigate a possible dead body in the area of 2994 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.
Atlanta police said officers checked the location and found Jackson’s body with an apparent gunshot wound, though the Fulton medical examiner’s office has not determined a cause of death.
Brown, who now faces a murder charge related to Jackson’s death, was labeled a person of interest in the case on Wednesday after the body was found. He was arrested a day earlier on charges in a separate incident and booked into the Houston detention center, jail records show.
On Monday, Brown was charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, kidnapping and gun charges, in addition to the murder count, Atlanta police said.
Brown has spent three stints in state prison and was last released in November after about a year behind bars, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. He previously served from August 2012 until February 2013 and again from September 2013 until July 2023, records show.
Brown has prior convictions for various crimes including armed robbery, burglary, theft by taking, entering a vehicle and obstruction in Fulton, Cobb and Bibb counties.
Jackson will be buried in his hometown of Headland, Alabama, later this week, according to his obituary. Headland is a town of less than 5,000 in southern Alabama, just north of Dothan. A visitation will be held Friday at Wright Funeral Home, and funeral services will take place Saturday in the Headland High School gymnasium.
Brown is being held in the Houston detention center without bond. It is not clear when he will be moved to Fulton to face the charges against him in Jackson’s case.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
