“More information is needed about what exactly happened to gather sufficient evidence,” the office said in a statement. It referred further questions to the Maryland State Police, which would say only that the crash remains under investigation.
Jackson, who was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL draft in April by the Minnesota Vikings, and two of his former Henry A. Wise High School teammates — Anthony Lytton Jr., 24, and Isaiah Hazel, 23 — were killed Saturday morning when a speeding driver who may have been under the influence of alcohol struck their vehicle on northbound Route 4 near Presidential Parkway in Prince George’s County.
No charges had been filed as of Sunday afternoon, state police said.
The crash occurred around 3:15 a.m. Saturday morning, when the three close friends and former high school football state champions and college athletes were riding in a Dodge Charger driven by Hazel. Police said an Infiniti Q50 that changed lanes while traveling at a high rate of speed struck the Charger and another car. The Charger veered off Route 4 and struck several tree stumps before coming to a stop. All three men were killed, authorities said.
The driver of the Infiniti, identified by police as Cori Clingman, 23, of Upper Marlboro, and her two passengers were also not injured. The driver of the other car was also not injured. Attempts to reach Clingman on Sunday were unsuccessful.
A full investigation into the crash could take several months, said Gregory Russell, a retired military police officer and crash reconstruction expert in Maryland. The timing depends in part on the workload of investigators and how long it takes for evidence — such as medical records — to be collected, he said.
Russell said most cars built after 2013 record crash data through the vehicle’s speedometer, and police would likely want to obtain that data with a search warrant.
“That’s one of the biggest things they’re going after and want to get, if they haven’t gotten it already,” Russell said.
The crash has left many in Prince George’s County and across the country mourning the loss of three promising young men who seemed to have bright futures ahead of them.
All three played football for Coach DaLawn Parrish and won multiple state championships as he built a dynasty at Wise, winning 43 consecutive games and three state titles from 2015-2018. Jackson finished his collegiate career at the University of Oregon; he previously enrolled at the University of Alabama. Lytton played collegiately at Florida State University and Penn State, and Hazel played at the University of Maryland and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Wise High School also lost three students to violent deaths in 2023. Two of those students were fatally shot and the third was killed in a car crash.
In an Instagram post in April, just two days before the NFL draft, Jackson wrote, “When I see Zayy and AJ [Hazel and Lytton] Go D1 was my ultimate inspiration, they inspired me to be better, I can’t thank them enough.”