Kansas Father Charged with Capital Murder in Connection with the Abduction and Double Homicide of His Children

A Kansas father has been charged with capital murder after allegedly killing his two sons and abducting his two daughters, which prompted an Amber alert on Saturday, according to officials.

Donny Jackson, 40, faces two counts of first-degree murder, said Leavenworth County District Attorney Todd Thompson. 

“He’s innocent until proven guilty,” Thompson told Inside Edition Digital in an email, who noted that he is unaware if Jackson has any legal counsel at this time. “Due to this being an ongoing case, we cannot comment on the facts or situation. We do always ask that if anyone sees a crime, please say something.” 

Thompson declined to release the cause of death or comment on a possible motive, reported Associated Press.

The bodies of 14-year-old Logan Jackson and 12-year-old Austin Jackson were found in their father's home on Saturday during the homicide-abduction investigation, authorities said. 

Police were alerted about 1:30 p.m. Saturday after one of the siblings did not show up for a soccer game, prompting the children’s mother, Tara Jackson, and their paternal grandmother to go to Jackson’s home in Leavenworth, authorities said.

Shortly before his sons' bodies were discovered, Donny Jackson had been pulled over for a traffic violation near the Oklahoma border, authorities said. 

Daughters Aven, 3, and Nora, 7, were in the car. After the Amber Alert was issued, law enforcement were able to use the traffic stop information to locate the father. The girls were found unharmed, police said. He was arrested on Saturday night in Erick, close to the state’s western border with Texas, about seven hours away from his home in Leavenworth. 

Jackson had been going through a divorce with the children’s mother and had an “on-again, off-again access to the children,” according to Maj. James Sherley, of the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Department

The girls were returned to their mother over the weekend, Sherley said.

A capital murder conviction may result in the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Jackson could also face federal charges in the alleged kidnapping of his daughters, WDAF reported. 

He is being held in Beckham County, Oklahoma, awaiting extradition to Kansas. 

A GoFundMe “Help for Tara and the Jackson girls,” has been created by a family friend. At least $56,000 had been raised as of Wednesday.

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