By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Jackie Sue Schut will remain in prison, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles ruled on Aug. 29. Schut was convicted of the Jan. 21, 1980, shooting death of Geneva Clemons and the kidnapping of Clemons’ newborn son, James.
She is also suspected in the March 8, 1980, death of Cheryl Pecore Jones, a 1977 graduate of Baker High School, and the kidnapping of her daughter, Amanda Jones Bell.
Bell traveled to Schut’s parole hearing last week to testify in favor of keeping Schut behind bars. Bell said Schut was not present at the hearing, as Alabama prohibits those convicted of murder or sexually based offenses from attending their parole hearings to avoid re-traumatizing or intimidating victims.
Bell led an online petition and letter-writing campaign to urge the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to deny Schut parole. Her Change.org petition garnered 1,695 signatures.
“Parole has been denied!” Bell wrote on “My Journey for Justice,” her Facebook page dedicated to bringing her mother’s killer to justice. “This has been a very long and emotionally taxing journey. … Thank you to every single person that has helped, followed, and reached out in some way.”
While Schut’s then-husband, Harold Schut, implicated her in Cheryl’s death and Amanda’s kidnapping, Jackie Sue Schut was never charged for those crimes. Bell said she plans to pursue the reopening of her mother’s case in Texas.
“This is not the last you will hear from me,” she said. “I still plan to seek indictment in Houston.”
