FROM: Jody Pickens, District Attorney General, 26th Judicial District
On April 17, 2025, at approximately 4:17 p.m., members of the Jackson Police Department (“JPD”) Organized Crime Unit assisted in the execution of arrest warrants for Jaquze a.k.a Jaquez M. Ross at the Cherry Grove Apartment Complex located at 85 Dunn Ridge Drive in Jackson, Tennessee.
Ross, aged twenty-two (22), was a resident of Humboldt, Tennessee. Jackson Police Department Gang Unit officers had received information that Ross was at the apartment complex that day. Ross is a member of the Hoover Crips criminal street gang.
Officers surrounded the apartment and ordered Ross to come out. After approximately ten minutes, Ross surrendered at the front door, and officers took him into custody. Officers then obtained consent from the tenant to search the apartment for weapons. During the search, officers, led by JPD Investigator Bradley Lewis, found four firearms inside a washing machine underneath a pile of dry laundry. Three of the firearms had been reported stolen.
At the time of his arrest, Ross was a convicted felon and was on probation for three (3) Gibson County (28th Judicial District), Tennessee, convictions: September 11, 2023, Attempted Second Degree Murder and Aggravated Assault committed on April 8, 2023, as well as Aggravated Assault committed on August 2, 2022. According to court records from that county, Ross received an effective nineteen (19)-year sentence in those cases, with an agreement that he would be placed on probation after serving two (2) years in jail.
On September 29, 2025, a Madison County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Ross with three (3) counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, three (3) counts of theft of a firearm for each of the stolen firearms recovered, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
On July 8, 2026, the State of Tennessee tried Ross on that indictment. The State was represented by Assistant District Attorney General Brad Champine. On July 9, 2026, a Madison County jury convicted Ross of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and three counts of theft of a firearm. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 31, 2026, before Judge Donald Allen. At that sentencing hearing, Ross faces a minimum sentence of twelve (12) years in prison for the felon-in-possession conviction.
“We vigorously prosecute violent felons who despite their prior convictions, make the decision to continue to possess firearms,” said District Attorney General Jody Pickens. “This Defendant, like so many others, believes that he is above the law and that he can lead a gangster’s lifestyle without consequence. After this Madison County conviction, he can still choose to lead a gangster lifestyle but if he does, it will be in prison where he will be separated from society. My office will request that each sentence in this case run consecutively to each other for a possible effective sentence of almost seventy-three (73) years. If he receives the maximum sentence, Ross will have to serve approximately fifty-three (53) years before he is eligible for parole. Additionally, I will request that this Madison County sentence run consecutively to the Gibson County sentence for which he was on probation. It is my opinion that based upon his conduct, he deserves every day in prison that can be given to him under the law.”
