Unborn Child and Mom, Betsy Sue Riggin/ Convicted -Andrew Jackson- Alameda/Severna Park MD

Alameda MD ---- There's been an arrest in the murder of a 29-year-old pregnant woman,
found in her home on the Alameda Thursday.

Police say Betsy Sue Riggin was strangled. Reportedly, her boyfriend Andrew Jackson has been charged with the murder.

The victim, who grew up in a small Illinois town, was five months pregnant with Jackson's baby at the time of her murder.

Betsy Sue Riggin, an affable 29-year-old, told her family she met her
boyfriend Andrew Jackson at a salad bar in Baltimore three years ago. He was a
"wonderful man," and they were expecting their first child in September.But
on Thursday, Riggin was found dead behind the locked door of her
Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello home, strangled. Jackson was charged
Saturday in her death, and the woman's family is now learning about the
long criminal history of a man authorities believe Riggin actually met
at her job as a food services manager at the city jail."She loved
him, and they were never apart," said her father, Wildon Riggin, of the
Eastern Shore town of Eden. "They really looked happy together."Riggin
grew up in Scales Mound, Ill., a town of 400 people near the Wisconsin
line, and came to Maryland to study business at Salisbury University.
She worked at a restaurant on the Eastern Shore and volunteered her time
with troubled children at an after-school program before making her way
to Baltimore and landing a job at the Baltimore City Detention Center.
That environment worried her mother, Cathy Staver."She always
said, 'Mom, I'm safer in this jail than I am in my own house.' She was
right," Staver said.Staver said Riggin and Jackson were
discussing marriage. She never mentioned Jackson's criminal past, which
according to court records includes several theft and drug convictions,
as well as domestic violence allegations and paternity cases.Though
Riggin said the couple met at a restaurant, the relationship started in
early 2008, around the same time Jackson would have entered the jail on
auto theft charges. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of eight
years in prison, but all but about a month of that sentence was
suspended. Jackson, of the 4100 block of Eierman Ave., was scheduled for
a May 25 hearing on a probation violation charge.Riggin's father
said Jackson was always well-mannered and respectful, and said his
other daughters say their sister never alluded to any troubles in the
relationship. But Wildon Riggin's guard was raised three weeks ago, when
Jackson was driving late at night and got into an auto accident.
Jackson said he had stopped to give three men a ride, and they tried to
take the vehicle. He wondered how Jackson could have gotten into such a
situation. He didn't get time to pursue his suspicions further.Police
said they were called Thursday evening to Riggin's home in the 3200
block of The Alameda and found Riggin unresponsive in her bedroom. A
spokesman said there were no clear signs of trauma other than some
scratches, but the autopsy determined that she had been strangled.
Police quickly zeroed in on Jackson, and Wildon Riggin said
detectives told him Jackson gave a confession consistent with the
evidence collected from the scene. Jackson was driving Riggin's new
vehicle at the time he was picked up, Wildon Riggin said.The case
could prompt prosecutors to consider the state's "viable fetus" law,
which allows for prosecution of a "person who intended to cause the
death of a viable fetus." A fetus is considered "viable" if doctors
believe there is a "reasonable likelihood of the fetus' sustained
survival outside of the womb,"
according to the statute, though the issue of when that would occur has
been hotly debated. Riggin was five months pregnant.
The bill become law in 2005 and was not used until 2008, when a
Baltimore County man was charged and later convicted of killing his
mistress and their child. She was seven months pregnant.Thirty-eight
states have fetal homicide laws, according to the National Conference
on State Legislatures.Riggin was remembered for her smile, blue
eyes and outgoing personality. Before working at the jail, she was
involved with a mentoring project in the Salisbury school system, her
mother said. According to court records, Riggin never had any run-ins
with the law."She very seldom met anyone she didn't like," Staver
said.Upon learning that her daughter was pregnant, Staver sent
baby clothes and purchased books such as "What to Expect When You're
Expecting." Those books sit on a computer stand in her home, where they
will likely stay as the family works out funeral services in Maryland
and Illinois."If nothing else comes out of this, people need to
be aware [of who they trust]," Staver said. "I talked to my daughter
[earlier in the week], and now I have nothing."

And this loser will spend the rest of his life behind bars, getting 3 meals a day, clothing, education, etc etc etc. There is no justice--if he confessed he shouldn't even get a trial-should be dead and buried before the sun rises tomorrow.

Defendant Information

Defendant Name:

JACKSON, ANDREW D

Race:BLACK	Sex:MALE
DOB:06/17/1980

Address:4139 EIERMAN AVE

City:

BALTIMOREState:MDZip Code:21206

---

ALIAS:

JACKSON, ANDREW DAWARREN

Address:DEF

---

ALIAS:

JACKSON, ANDREW KEYON

Address:DEF

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Schedule Information

Court Date:

06/14/2011Court Time:11:00

Room:230

Court Location:	COURTHOUSE EAST, 111 N. CALVERT ST., BALTIMORE, MD 21202
Reason:	JURY TRIAL

http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=110154033&loc=69&detailLoc=DSK8

Schedule Information

Court Date: 10/03/2011Court Time:09:30 Room:540
Court Location: COURTHOUSE EAST, 111 N. CALVERT ST., BALTIMORE, MD 21202
Reason: JURY TRIAL

http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=110154033&loc=69&detailLoc=DSK8

harge No: 1
CJIS/Traffic Code: 2 0900
Description: MURDER-FIRST DEGREE
Plea: GUILTYPlea Date: 10/03/2011
Disposition: SUB-CURIA
Disposition Date: 10/03/2011
Verdict: GUILTYVerdict Date:10/03/2011


http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=110154033&loc=69&detailLoc=DSK8

Schedule Information

Court Date: 11/28/2011Court Time:09:30 Room:113
Court Location: COURTHOUSE WEST, LEXINGTON & ST. PAUL, BALTIMORE, MD 21202
Reason: DISPOSITION

http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=110154033&loc=69&detailLoc=DSK8

I am Betsy Riggin's mom. On Monday, November 28, 2011 Andrew Jackson was sentanced to 40 years to life.

Thank you, Betsy's Mom, for updating our file. I have changed the headline in honor of your daughter.

Please accept our sympathies for your losses. I hope that the perp remains out of society for as much time as possible. I know that with prison overcrowding and time off for good behavior sometimes these miscreants can be out sooner than they should be. I understand that no level of punishment will be able to restore the life of your daughter and her child. I do hope that you find some consolation in that he has found justice quickly.