A man has been jailed for life after he murdered his partner and neighbour, and tried to kill his son, in a “frenzied” attack after taking cocaine on Christmas Day.
Jazwell Brown fatally stabbed Joanne Pearson with a kitchen knife and beat her with a baseball bat in their flat in Milton Keynes before doing the same to 18-year-old Jake Brown, who survived the incident.
Jazwell Brown appeared at Luton Crown Court
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The murder took place on Santa Cruz Avenue in Newton Leys, near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire
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Pearson was stabbed 31 times in the attack, while Grant suffered five sharp force injuries, including a deep stab wound to the neck and Jake Brown was left with a life-threatening wound to his chest.
The court heard the defendant had lived on the second floor of a communal housing block in Santa Cruz Avenue, Bletchley, and had been in an “unhealthy” relationship with Pearson for several years, with both taking Class A drugs.
Jake Brown visited their flat on the evening of December 25 last year, and the defendant “seemed to become suspicious” after Pearson was reluctant to smoke crack cocaine in front of the teenager, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said.
She said: “The defendant then picked up a screwdriver and a kitchen knife from the table in the living room and approached Pearson, who asked him what he was doing and tried to walk away…Without saying a word, he began to stab her with the knife repeatedly in a frenzied attack.
“Jake Brown tried to pull his father away from her, only for the defendant to turn to him and stab him in the chest.”
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Joanne Pearson and Teohna Grant
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The injured dog, Tilly, walking around after the incident
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The teenager called the police as he hid in the bathroom, where he heard Pearson’s dog Tilly squeal as if in pain, before Brown breached the room, holding the baseball bat.
Brown then made his way across the communal landing to the flat next door, where Latter and Grant, who had left their door unlocked, were sitting in the living room enjoying a quiet Christmas day, the court heard.
The defendant then stabbed both victims multiple times with a “blank” face, Heer said.
After leaving the second flat, Brown then fled the scene in his car, forcing his way through police officers trying to stop him, before driving off without switching his headlights on.
His car was eventually brought to a halt by armed police in Milton Keynes, with a bloodstained knife found on the passenger seat and spots of Pearson’s and Latter’s blood found on his trainers, the court heard.
Jazwell Brown being interviewed
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Whilst in a cell following his arrest, Brown made the unsolicited comment that he had “gone f****** crazy”, before later saying: “Not self-defence. Murder. It’s plain murder, not self-defence. Murder.”
Justice Kerr sentenced Brown to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 39 years for each of the murders of Pearson and Grant, with the sentences to run concurrently.
He also handed down 21 years imprisonment and 18 years imprisonment for the attempted murders of Litter and Jake Brown respectively, an 18-month sentence for possession of a knife in a public place and a nine-month sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, all to run concurrently.
Appearing in the dock, Brown spoke only to confirm his identity and showed no emotion when the sentence was passed.
Family members supporting the victims in the public gallery could be heard shouting at the defendant and applauding as they left the courtroom.
Police officers at the scene near an apartment block on Santa Cruz Avenue in Newton Leys, near Bletchley
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Jazwell Brown appearing in court
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Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Brangwin of Thames Valley Police said: “The events that unfolded on that day were truly horrific and tragic.
“We may never know what prompted Brown to behave the way he did. In his own home, he stabbed his partner Jo 31 times, before turning the knife and a baseball bat on a teenage boy. Brown also repeatedly stabbed Jo’s dog, Tilly, who survived despite her injuries.
“What remains even more incomprehensible is why Brown then left his home and tried the front door of a nearby flat, taking the knife and baseball bat with him.
“It was in this flat that he stabbed Teohna multiple times, causing fatal injuries. Teohna’s partner Bradley was also brutally attacked, sustaining more than 20 injuries to his neck alone. Somehow, Bradley survived.”
Jazwell Brown (left) in custody
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Justice Kerr sentenced Brown to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 39 years on Tuesday.
He told the defendant: “The terrible crimes you committed that day have torn apart the lives of many people.”
The judge said he accepted a psychiatric report that “the use of illegal drugs was the immediate trigger of the attacks”, adding: “That intoxication was voluntary.”
He said that Brown’s assault on his son Jake was “a terrible betrayal of a son’s natural trust in his father.”
