Janette Jackson, 76, was shopping at her neighborhood Stop & Shop in Dorchester when she came face to face with the man convicted of murdering her son three decades ago. John “Tiny” Evans, sentenced to life without parole in 1996 for killing Lyle “Danny” Jackson, is currently living under home confinement rather than behind bars — and Jackson says he bolted the moment he spotted her.
“And he just dashed right out when I saw him,” Jackson said, according to NBC Boston. The encounter comes this week, which marks the 30th anniversary of Evans’ life-without-parole sentencing for the January 25, 1995, killing of Lyle A. Jackson, who was shot at Walaikum’s Burger in Roxbury.
Evans has always maintained he had nothing to do with the shooting, even though he has admitted to leading police on a car chase afterward. That chase ended in the beating of Michael Cox, who was a plainclothes officer at the time and is now Boston’s police commissioner — Cox was knocked unconscious by fellow officers who mistook him for a fleeing suspect, a case that has shadowed the broader saga for years.
A Judge's Stay, Citing New Evidence and Failing Health
In 2024, a judge released Evans to home confinement, and he has now been out of prison for more than two years, per the same report. Judge Jackie Cowin stayed Evans’ life sentence, basing her decision on arguments that new evidence may warrant a new trial as well as his medical need for treatment.
Evans’ conditions include congestive heart failure and stage III AL amyloidosis, a bone marrow disease, according to reporting from the Boston Globe. His cardiologist testified that without treatment, Evans might live only another five to six months, while closely managed care could give him roughly a 50 percent chance of surviving another four years. His doctor has said that treatment was only available outside prison.
Under the terms of his release, Evans was ordered to live with a family member and allowed to leave the home only for visits with his doctor or his lawyer — grocery runs were not listed among the permitted reasons. He is also not on a monitoring device, the NBC Boston report notes.
Jackson Says Her Voice Was Left Out
Jackson opposed Evans’ defense motion to stay his sentence, telling the station the judge had once said Evans would spend the rest of his natural life in prison. Judge Cowin, for her part, said the law does not include statements from the victim’s family in her legal analysis of the motion.
Jackson has also said that Boston police did not respond to her request for help regarding the situation, the station’s report states. Suffolk County’s district attorney’s office continues to oppose both Evans’ release and his motion for a new trial.
Defense Says Release Met the Legal Standard
Evans’ attorney, Amy Codagnone, has said the Commonwealth did not appeal or otherwise challenge the release ruling, and that the court found Evans’ release met the applicable legal standard. Codagnone has also said new witnesses support Evans’ claim of innocence and that she believes a new trial would lead to his acquittal.
Under Massachusetts Criminal Procedure Rule 30, a trial judge may grant a new trial at any time on written motion if it appears that justice may not have been done — a general standard that does not by itself determine how Evans’ pending motion will be resolved. For now, Evans remains out of prison on home confinement while the courts weigh his case, and Jackson says she is left running into him in the aisles of her own neighborhood grocery store.
