South Carolina woman sentenced for killing the father of her 4 children

CONWAY, S.C. (TCN) -- A 40-year-old woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for fatally shooting the father of her children several years ago.

According to the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office, a jury convicted Meagan Jackson on June 17 of murder. A judge subsequently sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In October 2020, prosecutors said Jackson fatally shot 46-year-old Gregory Rice, the father of her four children. Jackson's co-defendant, 42-year-old Christopher Dontell, reportedly testified against Jackson and said he brought the victim's body to the Little Pee Dee River. A fisherwoman found Rice's body more than a month after he was reported missing.

Dontell pleaded guilty in December 2024 to criminal conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact of murder. His sentencing has not yet been scheduled, but the charge of criminal conspiracy to commit murder carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, and the charge of accessory after the fact of murder carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Senior Assistant Solicitor Mary-Ellen Walter said, "Greg Rice was a loving dad to five children and, because of his death, his oldest son had to assume his father’s role to his four younger siblings."

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