Man convicted in Jacksonville rape, killing of 10-year-old Tammy Welch sentenced to life in prison

The man convicted of raping and murdering 10-year-old Tammy Welch was sentenced to life in prison in a Duval County Court Thursday.

In August of 1984, Welch was raped and murdered while playing outside at her apartment complex off 103rd Street.

James Leon Jackson was convicted for the rape and murder on Nov. 30. He faced a judge and jury Thursday for the penalty phase.

Jackson faced the death penalty, but the jury did not have a unanimous verdict. Instead jurors voted 11 to 1 for life in prison.

The judge sentenced Jackson to two consecutive life sentences for sexual battery and murder of a person under 12-years-old.

Welch’s father immediately got up and left the courtroom as soon as the clerk finished reading the sentencing verdict.

He did not speak to the media but Welch’s sister, Jennifer Roache, did. She said the punishment was not what they were hoping for, but she believes her sister got justice.

“I know who did it, he’s being held accountable for it. I can now fully move on knowing that the person who did this heinous act is being punished for it,” said Jennifer Roache.

Roache said the last 34 years have been horrific and fearful not knowing who the suspect was.

On Wednesday, Welch's father, who was a Navy sailor and deployed at the time of her death, read a victim impact statement, listing the moments Jackson took from their family: missing out on a first dance, her prom and her wedding.

Roache also gave an impact statement on Wednesday, “I’ll never meet Tammy’s, children or her grandchildren. I will never be there for Tammy at her worst or her best” she said.

Welch and her sister were playing outside on Aug. 27, 1984, less than an hour before she was killed, and her 8-year-old sister was the one who discovered Tammy Welch's lifeless body in the courtyard.

Welch's shorts were bloodied, and she had been strangled.

Investigators originally questioned family and neighbors, including James Leon Jackson, who is now a father, but he was not arrested in connection to Welch's murder until 2013 when DNA results connected him to the scene.

On Thursday, defense attorney Julie Schlax successfully argued that Jackson shouldn’t get the death penalty for the crime.

She presented testimony from a neurologist who said Jackson has dementia and his health is deteriorating.

“He will die in prison. He will die in prison when God calls him,” said Schlax. “Life imprisonment protects society, life imprisonment punishes James Jackson. He will never walk amongst us again.”

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