Justice Scales and wooden gavel or hammer on wooden surface
Jade Janks—a 39-year-old woman based in Solana Beach, California—has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of killing her 64-year-old former stepfather, Thomas Merriman.
Notably, Law & Crime reports that the incident took place after Janks discovered that Thomas was in possession of hundreds of her own naked photos, and the defense continues to assert her innocence.
The decision came down on Monday, and it’s related to a situation that unfolded back in late 2020.
When Janks was visiting Merriman to help him clean his house, authorities note that she happened across naked photos of herself of his computer. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, some of these nude photos dated back to her teens.
As a result, Janks is accused of picking Merriman up from a medical facility, getting him drunk, and strangling him to death. She’s also accused of attempting to make the death look like an accidental overdose, and Janks was convicted of first-degree murder in December 2022.
Now, she’s been sentenced to life in prison, and she’ll be eligible for parole after 25 years.
However, the defense reportedly notes that they’re planning to appeal the sentence, as Janks says she stumbled across his body in the driveway—though she admits she didn’t handle Merriman’s death properly.
Marc Carlos, Janks’ defense attorney, says that additional factors were at play when Merriman died.
“Something happened on this evening, and it had a lot to do with her relationship with the victim. There is a lot of trauma in Jade Janks’ early life…Those were the factors that basically went into play on the evening that Mr. Merriman died.”
Carlos continued, pointing out that Janks “reacted in a way that was completely outside the way she would normally act.”
“She had, as the court is aware, she had family members that she could have called. She had lawyers that she could have called. There’s all kinds of people she could have called; however, she panicked under this reaction to the trauma that she had. And, as a result, she did things that made her appear to be complicit in the death of Mr. Merriman.”
In addition to the defense attorney, Janks’ father called the conviction “an injustice” while slamming Merriman as a “sick, perverted individual.”
As for Jade Janks, she says that Merriman put her through years of “psychological manipulation.”
“Tom came into my life when I was just a little girl and exerted influence during that early stage of development when I was just figuring things out. Unfortunately, that influence manifested itself into inappropriate touch, coercion, reckless behavior, and complete violation as what I now realize years of psychological manipulation. All of this came crashing down on me when I noticed hundreds of naked photos of myself on his computer and felt shattered.”
She wrapped by noting, “I’m sorry I didn’t act the way I was supposed to. I think about it every day since.”
However, the presiding judge ultimately noted that, based on the evidence, he thinks the jury’s decision was founded.
“I think they considered the mitigation. And I think that the jury ultimately determined that [the situation] didn’t justify Ms. Janks’ actions. And, therefore, they found her guilty of first-degree murder. And I do believe the evidence supported their conclusion.”
What are your thoughts on the overall situation?
