Pair Sentenced for Torture, Murder in Sacramento Apartment

SACRAMENTO — Judge Maryanne Gilliard on April 7 sentenced Jeremy McMahon to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sentenced Michelle Okumura to 38 years to life, plus a second life term in prison.

Michelle Okumura, Jeremy MacMahon

On Feb. 21, a jury convicted McMahon of the first-degree murder of Eric Jackson with the special circumstance of murder with torture and the allegation that McMahon personally discharged a firearm causing death. McMahon was also convicted of torture, false imprisonment and being a felon in possession of a weapon. The court found that McMahon had been convicted of a prior strike offense, making criminal threats in 2012.

Okumura was convicted of first-degree murder, torture and false imprisonment.

On Oct. 8, 2013, the Sacramento Police Department responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired at the Capitol Apartments in Midtown Sacramento. Upon arrival, officers found Jackson, 22, on the floor of an apartment with his feet bound with string and fabric tied around his neck. He had suffered fresh cuts, burn marks on multiple areas of his body and a bleeding wound on his chest.

As medical personnel prepared to transport Jackson to the hospital, he was pronounced deceased.

McMahon, then 31, and his girlfriend, Okumura, then 23, were both at the scene and told officers Jackson had tried to break into her apartment. Okumura first also stated she shot Jackson but later admitted it was McMahon who shot Jackson, who died from a single gunshot wound to his stomach.

Cell phone evidence revealed Jackson was bound, held captive and tortured by the defendants for approximately two days.

Jackson was a client of Okumura, who worked out of her apartment giving massages. Okumura and McMahon claimed Jackson disrespected Okumura and owed her money.