Ezekiel Lamar Jackson pleaded guilty to 10 charges after prosecutors said he assaulted a woman who came to clean his apartment.

CANTON, Ga. — A Georgia judge sentenced a 23-year-old Canton man to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to attacking, holding and sexually assaulting a residential cleaner inside his apartment in April.

Ezekiel Lamar Jackson entered a negotiated guilty plea May 28 to all 10 charges in the case, including two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated sodomy, kidnapping, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery and terroristic threats. Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole, followed by 40 years on probation. The plea ended the case less than two months after the attack.

District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said Jackson arranged for the woman to come to his one-bedroom apartment for residential cleaning work. The woman had responded to a Nextdoor post on April 5 requesting an apartment cleaner and set up an appointment for 10 a.m. the next day. At the May 28 plea hearing, Assistant District Attorney Kelly Chavis described the attack as part of the factual basis for the plea. Chavis said the woman had walked through the apartment to see what work would be needed when Jackson attacked her in the bathroom without warning. “Evidence suggests this defendant intentionally targeted this victim because she was a woman working alone,” Chavis said.

Prosecutors said Jackson stabbed the woman in the face and eye with a small screwdriver, forced his fingers down her throat to stop her from screaming and applied pressure to her neck until she felt she was losing consciousness. Her head struck the bathroom counter when he pushed her to the floor, prosecutors said. Over the next five hours, Jackson restrained her, threatened to kill her if she tried to escape and sexually assaulted her multiple times. The woman’s face and eye continued to bleed during the attack. Officials have not released the woman’s name. They said she was a residential cleaner who had gone to the apartment for work, not someone who knew Jackson socially.

The attack ended after the woman persuaded Jackson to let her go to Northside Cherokee Hospital. Prosecutors said she agreed to tell medical staff she had fallen and hit her face on a counter. Jackson went with her to the hospital and waited while she received treatment. Hospital staff reported that a female patient had been physically and sexually assaulted, and Canton police began their investigation that afternoon. Officers arrested Jackson in the hospital waiting room. Physicians determined that the woman had suffered an orbital fracture and brain bleeds from head trauma. She was later transported to the Kennestone Intensive Care Unit for treatment.

Investigators searched Jackson’s apartment and cellphone after the arrest. In the apartment, detectives found a bloody towel, the screwdriver used in the assault, first-aid supplies and other items that prosecutors said matched the woman’s account. A search of Jackson’s phone showed 15 people had responded to his Nextdoor post seeking an apartment cleaner. Prosecutors said all of the other respondents were men or larger cleaning businesses. Jackson responded only to the woman who later became the victim. Chavis said that evidence showed Jackson singled her out because she was a woman working by herself.

The case moved from arrest to plea in about seven weeks. Canton police first announced Jackson’s arrest in April after officers responded to Northside Cherokee Hospital at about 2:58 p.m. April 6. At the time, police said the case involved a physical and sexual assault that began at the Alexander Ridge apartment complex. Jackson was initially held without bond after his arrest. By the time of the May 28 hearing, prosecutors said the negotiated plea covered all charges he faced. The plea avoided a trial but required Jackson to admit guilt to the full indictment and accept the life sentence recommended in the agreement.

At sentencing, the victim delivered an impact statement about the attack, her ongoing physical and emotional injuries and the effect on her children. Prosecutors did not release the full statement. They said she thanked the community for supporting her after the assault. Chavis said the woman’s actions at the hospital helped save her life. “The victim demonstrated great courage and strength, and ultimately saved her own life in the face of such evil,” Chavis said. The district attorney’s office said the injuries from the attack required intensive care, and the full course of the woman’s recovery has not been made public.

Cannon also ordered Jackson to pay restitution and have no contact with the victim. During probation, Jackson is barred from Georgia except for Effingham County and Clayton County in the area of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He must register as a sex offender, follow sex offender probation conditions and receive psychosexual and mental health evaluations and treatment. The sentence leaves open the possibility of parole, but the probation terms would follow any future release. Officials did not disclose the amount of restitution or a future parole date.

Treadaway called the attack “torturous and horrific” in announcing the sentence. “For five hours, this victim endured unimaginable violence,” she said. “A sentence of life in prison is the only appropriate outcome for the deeply disturbing actions of this defendant.” The case was investigated by the Canton Police Department and prosecuted by Chavis, who works in the Gang and Organized Crime Unit. Prosecutors framed the case as both a violent assault and a planned targeting of a service worker who arrived alone to do a job inside a private apartment.

The plea closes the criminal case, while Jackson’s prison placement, restitution order and long-term supervision terms remain to be carried out under the sentence.

Author note: Last updated 2026-06-29.