Medical staff alerted police after the injured woman reached Northside Cherokee Hospital with Jackson waiting nearby.
CANTON, Ga. — A woman’s arrival at a Cherokee County hospital led police to arrest a Canton man who later admitted attacking her after hiring her to clean his apartment.
The case began for police at Northside Cherokee Hospital, not at the apartment where prosecutors said the violence occurred. Hospital staff reported on April 6 that a female patient had been physically and sexually assaulted. Officers and detectives with the Canton Police Department responded at about 2:58 p.m. and spoke with staff and the woman. Ezekiel Lamar Jackson, 23, was still in the waiting room when police arrived. Less than two months later, he stood in court and pleaded guilty to all 10 charges filed against him.
Prosecutors said the woman reached the hospital after persuading Jackson that she needed urgent treatment for injuries to her face and head. She had agreed to say she was hurt in a fall and had struck her face on a counter. Jackson accompanied her to the hospital and waited while she was treated. Once separated from him, the woman told medical staff what had happened, according to authorities. Physicians found an orbital fracture and brain bleeds tied to head trauma. She was then taken to the Kennestone Intensive Care Unit. District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway later said the hospital report triggered the criminal investigation that closed with Jackson’s life sentence.
The woman had gone to Jackson’s one-bedroom apartment that morning for a cleaning appointment. Prosecutors said she responded the day before to a Nextdoor post seeking someone to clean an apartment. She arrived at about 10 a.m. April 6 and walked through the unit to determine the scope of the work. While she was standing in the bathroom, Jackson attacked her without warning. Assistant District Attorney Kelly Chavis told the court that Jackson used a small screwdriver to stab the woman in the face and eye, forced his fingers down her throat to keep her from screaming and applied pressure to her neck until she felt she was losing consciousness.
The attack continued for about five hours, prosecutors said. Jackson restrained the woman, threatened to kill her if she tried to escape and sexually assaulted her multiple times. Her face and eye continued to bleed throughout the day. Prosecutors said she remained focused on surviving and eventually convinced him to let her seek treatment. The plan required her to present the injuries as accidental once she arrived at the hospital. Instead, medical staff learned she had been assaulted, and Canton police took over. Jackson was arrested in the hospital waiting room without the case returning to a public search or standoff.
The hospital account was later supported by evidence collected from Jackson’s apartment, prosecutors said. Canton police executed search warrants at the apartment and on Jackson’s cellphone. Detectives found a bloody towel, the screwdriver used in the attack, first-aid supplies and other items that officials said were consistent with the woman’s account. The cellphone search gave prosecutors another part of the case. Fifteen people had responded to the Nextdoor cleaning post. All of the others were men or larger cleaning companies, prosecutors said. Jackson responded only to the woman who worked alone.
That cellphone evidence shaped how prosecutors described the crime at sentencing. Chavis said the records suggested Jackson intentionally targeted the woman because she was a woman working by herself. “He is a dangerous man, and the brutality of his actions is shocking,” Chavis said. She also said the victim’s choices during and after the attack helped keep her alive. The district attorney’s office did not release the victim’s name, and officials have not publicly detailed the full long-term medical outlook. They said she later described the attack’s physical and emotional effects in court and spoke about its impact on her children.
Jackson pleaded guilty May 28 to two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated sodomy, kidnapping, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery and terroristic threats. The plea was negotiated, but prosecutors said he admitted guilt to every charge he faced. Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole, followed by 40 years on probation. The sentence also included restitution, a no-contact order and sex offender registration. Jackson must receive mental health and psychosexual evaluations and treatment as part of his punishment and supervision.
The probation terms add restrictions if Jackson is ever released from prison. During probation, he is barred from Georgia except for Effingham County and Clayton County in the area around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He must follow sex offender probation rules and have no contact with the victim. Prosecutors did not announce the amount of restitution. They also did not announce a parole date. In Georgia, a life sentence with the possibility of parole does not guarantee release. It allows Jackson to seek parole only if he becomes eligible under state rules and prison officials refer the case for review.
The attack drew attention because it began through a routine request for paid cleaning work. Authorities said the woman was not at the apartment for a social visit or domestic encounter. She was there to assess a residential cleaning job after answering a post online. The private setting, the one-on-one appointment and the cellphone evidence became central facts in the prosecution’s account. Treadaway said Jackson’s conduct was “torturous and horrific” and said the life sentence was the only appropriate outcome. Chavis prosecuted the case for the state, and Canton police handled the investigation.
For investigators, the hospital became the place where the woman’s account, medical findings and Jackson’s presence came together. The police response at Northside Cherokee Hospital led to the arrest, the apartment search and the digital search that prosecutors later used in court. The case moved quickly from arrest to guilty plea, closing before a trial could begin. Officials have said the woman continues to face the effects of the attack, but they have not released a detailed recovery timeline or further medical updates.
Any future release would trigger the 40-year probation term, sex offender registration, no-contact order and geographic restrictions imposed by the court.
Author note: Last updated 2026-06-29.