05/10/2026
Please reach out to: State’s Attorney of Cook County and Assistant State’s Attorney, for the People of the State of Illinois.
My name is Hezekiah Jackson.
Two parents, six siblings, one nephew, two niece, three grandparents, and countless aunts, uncles, and friends, all who were traumatized by this whole ordeal. Plenty of chances were given, but none was taken.
Only thing taken was one African-American father, son, cousin, and brother, ripped right out of everyone’s everyday lives, trapped behind four walls, lost behind long court dates or costly lawyer fees. If lawyer fees weren’t enough, the commissary surely pushed me so far behind, it became easy to lose sight, to lose hope.
To lose faith in the justice system is one thing, to feel like you lost in life is another. From small rocks in the drinking water at NRC to unsanitary living conditions, including black mold, mice, roaches, and fruit flies in Cook County. My story is not just some book, headline, or make-believe urban novel you can just purchase on Amazon.
This is my life as well as many other similar stories of people of my color. Mixed emotions wash over me every court date, wondering when this nightmarish dream will be over. For almost $20,000 later, this is a four-year nightmare that every court appearance posts the possibility of things becoming worse.
My name is Hezekiah Jackson, and I was abducted October 5, 2022, by plainclothes who, at the time of my arrest, had no information of a violent crime to commit such an aggressive approach by boxing in a parked vehicle. They had witnessed no drug or firearm-related offenses to jump out and point their weapons without identifying themselves.
To make matters worse, I’d never seen my preliminary judge. They just kept me in a basement bullpen shackled up for six hours on three separate occasions. Never seen a judge. Never seen a public defender. I didn’t even know how or what day I was indicted. I was just kept in a dark basement. I was told that how I had been indicted completely violated my rights. This isn’t fair. This isn’t justice.
This is a system that has become a bigger bully in the worst way. Continue below
