The man once accused of killing 15-year-old Demarion Sanders is back on the streets after prosecutors dismissed new drug and firearm charges, sparking fresh outrage and grief from the victim’s family.
Demarco Jackson was originally charged with first-degree murder after the September 2022 shooting death of Sanders, who had just turned 15 two weeks earlier. But those charges were dismissed after a key juvenile witness refused to testify under oath.
“They only gave him that choice,” Demarion’s mother, Latoya Sanders, said in an exclusive interview with 10 News. “He’d have to go in there and point him out. We asked for protection. Nothing. It’s dangerous. Wouldn’t no kid do that.”
Latoya was in court the day the charges were dropped. “I just walked out crying,” she said. “It was all bad.”
Nearly two years later, on August 7, 2024, Jackson was arrested again in a separate case— this time following a months-long investigation and undercover drug buys. The Star City Drug and Violent Crime Task Force seized methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and several firearms from a home on Archbold Avenue NE in Roanoke. Police say casings from one of those guns matched casings found at a recent shooting in downtown Roanoke.
In that case, Jackson was arrested along with two others: Quantez Guerrant and Antonio Smith. In the search warrant obtained by 10 News, Smith is listed as a four-time convicted felon, and police say all three men are known to be involved in gang activity.
All three faced drug and gun charges, but those charges against Jackson and Smith were later dropped through a legal maneuver called nolle prosequi, often abbreviated as ‘nolle pros,’ meaning prosecutors chose not to pursue the case at the time and dropped the charges.
“The nolle pros, which is a Latin word meaning ‘no longer prosecute,’” said John Fishwick, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.
He explained that nolle pros is a temporary dismissal and the charges can be brought again.
“Sometimes prosecutors say, ‘Well we don’t have enough evidence to go forward for a trial so we’re going to drop the case.’ Sometimes they’re looking for other witnesses, more evidence,” said Fishwick.
“There are roadblocks, but I think good prosecutors are going to look for ways around those roadblocks,” Fishwick said. “If there’s somebody who’s done a really violent crime, they obviously need to be prosecuted.”
This spring, Guerrant was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but 7 years and 6 months suspended. Meanwhile, Jackson and Smith remain free.
10 News sat down with Roanoke City Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Caldwell to find out why his office dropped those charges.
“When it comes to court, we have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Roanoke City Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Caldwell. “And really we just didn’t have the evidence to prove it against those two individuals.”
Caldwell explained that one challenge is linking suspects to evidence found at a crime scene, especially if there is not any mail, documentation or DNA evidence to go off.
Asked whether lesser charges were considered, Caldwell said, “There’s always a possibility of lesser charges. But there has to be something there to motivate them to want to enter into a plea agreement, and the evidence to do that was not here.”
“How do you think the public might perceive that knowing that two individuals were not prosecuted in this case who are known to be violent offenders in the community,” asked 10 News Anchor Lindsey Kennett.
Caldwell defended the office’s decision saying, “If you’re asking do if I feel guilty about losing some cases, the answer is no. I’m going to lose. You know, I have a saying that I tell all my attorneys, ‘You show me an attorney that brags about their win-loss record, and I’ll show you an attorney that doesn’t prosecute cases.’”
“You’ve got to approach each case individually,” Caldwell added. “If you’ve got the proof to prosecute it, if you don’t, you got to cut it loose and move on.”
But Latoya Sanders says she can’t move on.
“It’s unbelievable and it still is,” she said. “It’s like a dream. I don’t want to believe that he’s gone.”
At William Fleming High School’s graduation ceremony, Latoya walked across the stage in a cap and gown to accept her son’s diploma in his place — a moment of bittersweet celebration.
“He was a good kid. He wanted to go to the Army,” she said. “His sweet 16, I wasn’t able to give him his car like I did his sister. And being that he never had kids or anything. So I don’t have nothing of him, you know, a piece of him left.”
Despite the setbacks, she vows to keep pushing for justice.
“Just know I will get justice for my son,” she said. “Don’t know how long it’ll take, but I’m going to do it.”
As for the possibility of the murder, drug, and gun charges being brought back against Jackson, Caldwell said it is technically possible, but unlikely his office will prosecute those cases unless new evidence emerges.
