Suspect in killings of 2 sisters found dead in Arkansas
Vic Ryckaert
The man believed to have killed his estranged wife and her sister in Indianapolis was found dead in Arkansas of an apparent suicide.
Darrel Jackson, 29, according to police reports, is believed to have killed Mallory Jackson, 27, and her sister Meredith Opel, 20, in a southeast-side home.
Then, Jackson drove more than 400 miles to Jonesboro, Ark., where his family lives. He parked in back of a home and, police said, sent a text message to his father saying "he could not take it no longer."
About 1:40 p.m. Indianapolis time, Jackson's father and brother found Darrel Jackson in the front seat of a 2011 Nissan Sentra with an Indiana plate.
He had shot himself in the head. A Smith and Wesson 9-mm handgun was in the car with him.
About four hours later, Indianapolis metropolitan police found the bodies of Mallory Jackson and Opel in a home in the 4500 block of Stone Mill Drive.
According to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department news release, the sisters suffered "apparent trauma." Autopsy results have not been released.
Darrel Jackson was Mallory Jackson's husband, police said. According to the Jonesboro police report, Darrel Jackson lived at the same house on Stone Mill Drive where the sisters were killed.
Police had been called to that same home recently to respond to a domestic dispute, IMPD Sgt. Christopher Wilburn said. Wilburn said details of that incident were not immediately available Monday,
Mallory Jackson and Opel are graduates of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis. Jackson graduated in 2009 and Opel in 2015.
Their father, Doug Opel, is a former athletic director for Roncalli and served as the school's basketball coach from 1984-89.
"The Opel Family spans generations of Roncalli alumni and have been long time members of our community on many levels," Roncalli Principal Chuck Weisenbach said in a statement. "Our hearts are heavy and our prayers are with the family."
Jackson worked as a licensed practical nurse for American Senior Communities at Rosewalk Village. She leaves behind a daughter, Camilla Rose, according to her obituary.
Opel was a senior at the University of Southern Indiana, according to her obituary.
Funeral services for Opel and Jackson will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Dec. 2 at the Roncalli gymnasium. Their burials will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.