For the second time, Tremaine Jackson's murder trial has ended without a jury reaching a verdict.
On Tuesday afternoon, jurors told Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King that after four days of deliberation, they could not decide if Jackson should be convicted of killing Bryan Rogers on Charleston's West Side in December 2015.
As he declared the mistrial, King cited a "helplessly deadlocked" jury.
"They could continue to deliberate and it would just be a waste of time," the judge said.
Jackson's first trial on the murder charge, in September 2016, ended after a juror went to the murder scene on her own and described what she found to her fellow jurors. That juror, Taniqra Payne, received two years' probation after Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom suspended a jail sentence.
In a police interview after the shooting, Jackson allegedly said Rogers stole his heroin, and that he planned to shoot Rogers when they crossed paths.
According to his statement to police, Jackson said he killed Rogers on Dec. 27, 2015, near Littlepage Terrace. However, Jackson's attorney's said investigators coerced him into making a confession.
In a previous hearing, a defense lawyer said Jackson did heroin on three consecutive days before the police interview.
Jackson at first denied the accusations during a three-hour interview. Police claimed to have nonexistent video footage of the crime, and Jackson later said he shot Rogers.
Daniel Holt, a fellow inmate at South Central Regional Jail in 2016, said Jackson told him about the shooting.
Jackson said he "busted [Rogers'] melon," Holt said in a previous hearing.
However, Jackson continually denied such claims in court. He said he was outside a funeral home instead of the alleyway where Rogers was killed.
After King declared the second mistrial, Jackson's lawyer, Robby Long, asked that the judge allow Jackson to be released on a $50,000 property bond. The judge refused, noting that the first mistrial came because of juror misconduct and not on the merits of the case.
Jackson seemed to be in good spirits as he left King's courtroom Tuesday and addressed a family member.
"I love you," he said to the woman. "Kiss my daughter for me."
Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.