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Gunman who killed 2 at 2020 Halloween party in Dale City sentenced to 143 years

The man convicted of murdering two people at a Halloween party in Dale City, Virginia, in 2020 will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Karriem Jackson, now 31, was found guilty last summer of fatally shooting 24-year-old Christopher Alan Johnson and 25-year-old Frank Chineji Sapele. The shooting happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2020, at a house party in Dale City. Two other people were seriously injured.

Jackson was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and several weapons violations.

Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Robert Coleman sentenced Jackson last week to 198 years in prison with 55 years suspended — effectively 143 years behind bars.

“It is a tragedy that two lives were ended in a senseless act of gun violence. While the sentence imposed today cannot bring the victims back, it does send a clear message that this kind of violent criminal behavior will not be tolerated in our community,” Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth said.

According to Ashworth’s office, Jackson got into an argument at the party with someone who lived at the home, which escalated into a physical fight during which Jackson pistol whipped the individual. Jackson was told to leave, at which point he fired multiple rounds into the crowd, killing Johnson and Sapele and seriously injuring two other partygoers.

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Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

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