NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Navy woman was able to identify her murderer to medics before her death in 2021. Now, he will spend the next 30 years in prison.
Haniah Sturdivant was 19 years old when she was murdered out of jealousy from a Florida man who was interested in her. Sturdivant was shot outside of her boyfriend’s home while on the phone with a friend. While being transported to the hospital, she was able to tell medics the name of the shooter.
Sturdivant was stationed out of Norfolk and met 22-year-old Robert Jackson through one of Jackson’s friends.
Jackson had expressed interest in Sturdivant, but she recently started dating someone else and wasn’t interested. He then told one of his friends that he was thinking about killing her new boyfriend and Sturdivant if she got in the way.
On April 25, 2021, Jackson, the victim and a group of Navy friends went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg before Sturdivant left to go to a barbeque with her boyfriend. The two then drove separate cars to his house.
Some of her friends from earlier were outside his apartment and Sturdivant texted her boyfriend again, suggesting they leave his apartment and return to her housing on the naval base.
Minutes later — gunshots.
The boyfriend ran outside to find his girlfriend shot multiple times in her torso, arm and legs in the passenger seat of her car. Another friend was on the phone with her and heard an altercation take place before the call ended. Bystanders tried to help Sturdivant while she drifted in and out of consciousness until medics arrived.
During the ride to the hospital, she suddenly awoke, took the oxygen mask off her face, and said, “I know who shot me” before going unconscious again.
When she regained consciousness she told medics her shooter was “Robert.” When asked for Robert’s last name, Sturdivant said “Jackson.”
“Am I going to die?” Sturdivant asked, at the hospital.
Sturdivant underwent emergency surgery but succumbed to her injuries about eight hours after she was shot.
Jackson fled the Commonwealth to Florida immediately after the shooting. Based on their investigation, Norfolk Police detectives secured warrants for his arrest for second-degree murder and using a firearm to commit murder.
In July 2021, law enforcement in Miami identified Jackson during a traffic stop and arrested him on the outstanding warrants for the offenses he committed in Florida unrelated to this case.
Jackson was convicted of those offenses and served his time in Florida before he was extradited to Norfolk in February 2024.
In July 2024, the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office secured a direct indictment from a grand jury against Jackson for first-degree murder.
On Aug. 30, Jackson entered an agreement to plead no contest, pursuant to the rule in Alford v. North Carolina, to second-degree murder and face an active prison sentence not to exceed 30 years. In exchange for his plea, the Commonwealth agreed to dismiss his other charges.
On Friday, Nov. 15, after hearing arguments from the prosecution and defense, Judge Hall sentenced Mr. Jackson to serve the maximum sentence allowable of 30 years in prison, plus two years of post-release supervision.
“Mr. Jackson killed Ms. Sturdivant out of jealousy, which means he killed her out of malice,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Ms. Sturdivant did nothing wrong, and Mr. Jackson did. He will now serve a long prison sentence. Unfortunately, nothing we can do will bring Ms. Sturdivant back. I grieve with her family and hope that they find some closure from the conclusion of this case.”
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