Former prosecutor helps free man sentenced to life for botched robbery

The prosecutor who once pushed Jessie Askew Jr. toward life without parole spent more than a decade trying to pull him back. That reversal finally took hold in Houston County Superior Court, where Judge G.E. “Bo” Adams approved a consent order on April 24, 2026, reducing Askew’s sentence to 25 years with credit for time served.

Askew, now 52, had already served more than 28 years, making him eligible for release once the paperwork is completed. His case began with a 1997 armed robbery at Morrison’s Fresh Cooking in Warner Robins, where no one was shot or physically hurt. Court records and later reporting say Askew was convicted of armed robbery, three counts of kidnapping, three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of the crimes.

In 1997, Kelly Burke was in his first year as Houston County district attorney when he recommended the harshest punishment under Georgia’s recidivist sentencing framework. Askew had multiple prior felony convictions, and under that law repeat offenders can receive the longest sentence available for the new offense. The result was life without parole, a sentence that left no path to parole, probation or other sentence-reducing relief.

Burke later said he had gone too far. He called the sentence wrong and spent more than a decade pushing for the case to be reconsidered. “It was a hammer when all I really needed was a pillow,” Burke said, reflecting on his decision to seek life without parole against a defendant convicted in a nonfatal robbery.

Houston County District Attorney Eric Edwards agreed to the resentencing, saying Burke’s view that the punishment was wrong played a major role in his decision. Edwards said it was among the few cases in which he would consent to such an agreement. Two of Askew’s victims also testified in favor of release at the hearing, telling the court they believed he had paid his debt to society and supported the sentence change.

The case has become a stark example of what second-look justice can look like when the original prosecutor changes course. It also lands amid renewed debate in Georgia over whether people serving life without parole for nonhomicide offenses should get another hearing. House Bill 894, the Georgia Second Look Act, would allow limited resentencing after 20 years in certain life-without-parole cases, while excluding murder, rape and other specified crimes.

Askew’s resentencing shows how rarely a sentence this severe is unwound, and how much depends on prosecutors, judges and a legal system willing to revisit its own decisions.