Felon who attacked woman gets 16 years

• Demario A. Jackson drew a 16-year prison term after pleading guilty to burglary and battery.
• The 34-year-old Muncie man is set to stand trial Jan. 7 in Indianapolis on drug-dealing charges.

MUNCIE – Demario Antwan Jackson was already in legal trouble in September 2013 when he brutally attacked a Muncie woman in her apartment in the Old West End neighborhood.

The 34-year-old Muncie man last week was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to a burglary charge stemming from that assault. Delaware Circuit Court 3 Judge Linda Ralu Wolf added two more years to Jackson’s prison term for an unrelated domestic battery conviction.

The victim of the 2013 attack told investigators Jackson — an acquaintance of hers, according to a police report — entered her apartment through a bedroom window, armed with a baseball bat.

After punching her several times in the face, he kicked and stomped on her, inflicting injuries that required treatment at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

He then ripped a closet door off its hinges and broke two glass-top tables and several plates, the report said. An officer wrote that the victim’s apartment looked “as if someone had thrown a grenade into the front room and destroyed everything.”

Judge Wolf said she would recommend the Muncie man be assigned to a state Department of Correction facility that addresses his “substance abuse, anger management issues and mental illness disorders.”

That treatment will have to wait, however.

Jackson — convicted of possession of cocaine in 2007 — is set to stand trial Jan. 7 in Marion County on drug-related charges, including dealing in cocaine.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.