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Eau Claire, Wisconsin – The trial of a Black “habitual criminal” accused of fatally stabbing a White man has been indefinitely postponed while the defendant receives “inpatient treatment.”
A criminal complaint filed last December accuses 44-year-old Anthony Necarl Jackson, a homeless Black man, of fatally stabbing 31-year-old Alex Timothy Graff at the Eau Claire-based Do Dodge Inn.
According to the complaint, Graff suffered knife wounds to his back, shoulder, face, and chest—the last of which severed an artery, leading to his death. Graff was in town at the time visiting a friend.
Jackson—who was out on bond at the time—was later arrested while walking away from the scene. He was charged with multiple felonies, including first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of bail jumping. All charges include felony classifications, with bail jumping and repeat offender modifiers.
Police took a statement from a friend of Graff’s at the scene. According to the friend, Jackson paced in the corner of the bar for several minutes, muttering to himself and leering at Graff and his companion.
The witness said that Jackson, a complete stranger, suddenly confronted Graff and began stabbing him without warning. While Graff attempted to flee, he was stabbed twice from behind. After escaping the bar, he collapsed a short distance away.
After stabbing Graff, Jackson turned on Graff’s friend, who claimed he broke a pool cue over Jackson’s head, prompting him to retreat and exit the bar.
Jackson was arrested shortly after, and Graff was transported to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Alex Timothy Graff is survived by numerous family and friends, including his parents, sister, and girlfriend. According to his obituary, he was an avid outdoorsman and a skilled handyman.
According to his obituary, “Alex enjoyed snowmobiling, motorcycles, jet skis, hunting, fishing and camping. He could fix anything which he learned from his dad. Alex liked gardening, raising chickens and eating anything spicy. Most importantly, he loved and cherished his family and friends and will be missed by everyone.”
According to court records, Anthony Jackson is legally classified as a “habitual criminal” and violated his bond conditions by allegedly murdering Graff and attempting to kill Graff’s friend.
At the time of the alleged murder, Jackson had been out on bond since October for charges of disorderly conduct and throwing or discharging bodily fluids at a public safety worker.
Five days before the alleged murder, a bench warrant was issued for Jackson after he failed to appear in court for the earlier charges.
According to police statements, Anthony Jackson has been convicted twice of felony-level drug charges, with the most recent conviction in 2021.
In December, Eau Claire Police Chief Matt Rokus told WKOW 27 that local police had arrested Jackson 20 times in 2024 alone.
A court summary from February 5 shows that Judge Beverly Wickstrom ordered that Jackson “is to be remanded to [an] inpatient treatment facility as soon as … appropriate and possible.”
Wickstrom also granted the defense’s request that Jackson’s admitting paperwork “remain sealed.”
Judge Beverly Wickstrom (D) was elected in 2022 and sits on the committee for the Eau Claire’s City Revolving Loan Fund (CRLF). The CRLF allows the city government to issue business loans of up to $100,000 at a very competitive interest rate of just 4%
Eau Claire, located in central Wisconsin, has a population of just over 70,500, with more than 86.7% of residents identifying as White. In contrast, Black residents make up only 1.34% of the population.
Homicides are exceptionally rare in Eau Claire. Between 2019 and 2023, the Eau Claire Police Department arrested a total of 10 homicide suspects—half of whom were White and half Black. Given the city’s demographics, Black homicide suspects were over represented by a factor of 37.
Competency hearings, like Jackson’s, are frequently used by American defense lawyers to indefinitely delay justice in Black on White homicide cases, allowing offenders to evade prison. While Anthony Jackson may one day emerge from treatment competent enough to stand trial, many victims’ families covered by the Justice Report have been awaiting justice for years.
Last December in Raleigh, North Carolina, a local judge determined that a 34-year-old Black man was not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2021 shooting death of a White UPS driver. As a result, the defendant was ordered to undergo indefinite psychiatric treatment at Central Region Hospital. In the three years after the shooting, the suspect attended multiple competency hearings.
On New Year’s Day 2023, a Black man armed with a machete was arrested for allegedly killing a White newlywed, an act that shocked the quiet town of Upper Sandusky, which hadn’t seen a homicide in over 20 years. The case has since faced indefinite delays due to two separate motions challenging different aspects of the accused’s competency to stand trial. The suspect, Bethel M. Bekele remains in a state run psych ward.
On February 1, 2023, in Dana Point, CA, a White emergency room physician Michael John Mammone was killed on the Pacific Coast Highway while riding his bicycle. The alleged suspect is 39-year-old Vanroy Evan Smith, a mixed-race Black man who allegedly ranted about “White privilege” after hitting Mammone and proceeding to stab him.
Recent case updates indicate that Smith began competency evaluations as recently as last year. While updates remain limited, it is clear that Smith is currently incarcerated, though he has not yet been added to a prison roster, suggesting a delay in the trial. Additionally, the Jewish District Attorney failed to find a motive for the crime.
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