Caldwell woman sentenced to prison for role in fatal robbery. She was 21 at the time

A Caldwell woman who was part of the fatal robbery of a 41-year-old man in 2021 was sentenced to at least four years in prison Wednesday and could serve up to 11.

In April 2021, Jennika Berry, then 21, was originally charged with second-degree murder after she told police that she shot Bradley Griffin Jacobs after he “tried to rape her at gunpoint” at a remote property southwest of Caldwell.

According to court documents, detectives discovered Berry had changed her story multiple times during interviews, leading them to investigate and find that her boyfriend at the time, Jacob Neely, had shot and killed the victim. On Feb. 22, Neely was sentenced to seven years fixed and eight years indeterminate on manslaughter and robbery counts.

Charges against Berry were amended to felony robbery, and she pleaded guilty in April 2022.

Valery Jacobs, the victim’s mother, said during Berry’s sentencing that she lost consciousness upon hearing the news of her son’s death and suffers brain damage from the incident.

Jacobs’ sister, Summer Roberson — who had been friends with Berry — also spoke at the sentencing. In an impact statement, she talked about having to live without her brother. Since his death, she said has been sober and become a sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous.

“I got custody of him when he was 13, and he’s been in every house in every state I’ve ever lived in …” Roberson said. “But I am still lost without my brother. We were attached at the hip, and I don’t know how to be without him except to do what I’m doing.”

Defense attorney Mary Digray said Berry gave inconsistent statements to detectives because she was under the influence of substances at the time of Jacobs’ death.

Berry said during the sentencing that she regrets losing her close friendship with Roberson after Jacobs’ death, and she hopes to continue her education and stay sober.

“I want everybody in this courtroom to know that they helped me today to become a better person, because I don’t want to keep doing this,” she said. “I want sobriety more than anything in the world …. My loyalties lied with the wrong people through this, and halfway through this I realized that.”

Third District Judge Thomas Whitney sentenced Berry to four years fixed, meaning she will not be eligible for parole until after that time, and seven years indeterminate on one count of robbery. She must also pay $5,000 in restitution to the victim’s family.