A single bullet ended her life, but Arkia “Kia” Berry’s final effort to seek justice would not go unnoticed. Moments before she died in a hail of gunfire inside a car, alongside her five-year-old son and her partner, Berry sent a chilling message from her phone: “Jaco.”
Police in Alabama believe the word identified her killer: “Jaco,” short for Jacorian Deshawn McGregor, 25, now facing charges of triple murder for the shooting that took place on July 13 in Birmingham, Alabama.
According to authorities, McGregor opened fire around 5 p.m., fatally shooting Berry, the child, Landyn Brooks, and the child’s father, Eric Ashley Jr. The three were inside a blue Nissan Maxima, which was found shortly after, riddled with bullets and abandoned on a quiet residential street.
Detective Jarvelius Tolliver, who testified during a preliminary hearing, outlined the timeline. At 5:07 p.m., surveillance cameras captured a green Kia Soul entering the neighborhood. A minute later, Berry’s Nissan arrived. At 5:09 p.m., Berry sent the “Jaco” text. Just a minute later, the Kia sped away. No other vehicles were seen leaving the area.
At 5:10 p.m., an automatic collision detection system triggered an emergency call. When officers arrived, they found the bodies of the victims, with 20 to 30 shell casings scattered across the pavement.
The following day, a patrol unit responded to a car fire. The vehicle was a green Kia Soul. After extinguishing the flames, authorities traced the car back to its owner, who claimed it had been stolen “five or six days earlier” but had never filed a police report.
Further investigation revealed that Ashley’s phone had one final contact: “Jaco.” A video also showed the Kia Soul driving alongside a Mercedes. Using license plate readers, investigators identified the Mercedes driver, who revealed that he had spent the day with McGregor, who allegedly confessed to the shooting.
Forensic analysis showed McGregor had deleted almost all messages from his phone on the day of the shooting. However, some chats remained, with discussions about the incident. “They told him to disappear, to lay low,” Tolliver said.
McGregor’s defense team denies the accusations. “My client did not shoot anyone,” said attorney John Robbins. “There’s no footage of him firing a gun. The text from Berry? It’s not evidence. Writing a name is not the same as identifying a killer.”
A year before her death, Arkia Berry shared a haunting post on Facebook: “Seeing all these women, all these mothers, dying suddenly hits me deeply. In less than two weeks, we’ve lost four. I pray in the name of Jesus for every mother… may God guide and protect them. Day and night. Always.”
If convicted, Jacorian McGregor faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
