Jackson Jambalaya

The biggest eyesore in Northeast Jackson may not be an eyesore much longer if Jackson Environmental Court Judge Jeff Reynolds has his way.  

5114 Old Canton Road in 2023

The house has been quite the problem property in Northeast Jackson for quite some time.  Situated by Jackson Academy and Parham Bridges Park, it has been the scene of shootouts, squatters, and other nefarious activity.  

Bryan and Lucille Campbell owned the home and the adjacent one until they passed away in their old age in 2006.  Their son inherited the two properties and sold them.  Rene Verhoeven bought them in 2017.  Mr. Verhoeven lives in Belgium.  

JJ reported on April 29, 2021 three shootouts took place on the same day.  Earlier post. The tenants were evicted and the house sat vacant in a state of neglect (as seen in the picture above).  Indeed, the yard got so bad Jackson stalwart Locke Ward used a $300 donation to hire a crew to take care of the yard.   

May 2024 rolled around and a truck showed up one Friday night.  Several people spent the weekend cleaning out the house and putting the contents on the street.   A week later, some tenants moved in but they were not exactly tenants.   As it turned out, they paid rent but to a phony realtor out of state.  

To say the residents were of the hood rat variety is an insult to hood rats.   Junked cars populated the property.  Tires piled up on the backside of the house.  Pit bulls ran loose - when they weren't caged up outside up to eight hours a day.  People came and went at all hours.  The residents, often didn't wear shirts.  Scantily clad young women appeared on a regular basis.  A stripper pole was installed.  

Pictures posted below show the squalor of the squatters. 

No power? No problem.  They took an Entergy box from another house and rigged it up to the power line.  Yup, they hot-wired power.  Entery disconnected the electricity all but within a day, the squatters were back to bootlegging electricity.  When JXN Water turned off the water, the squatters proceeded to turn the water back on.  The cat and mouse game with JXN Water continued until JXN Water took more preventative measures.  However, the squatters did cut the grass every so often in an effort to be good neighbors.    

No management company supervised the property.  The elderly owner remained in Belgium, sick with cancer.  

The squatters squatted away until May 2025.  Mr. Verhoeven rehired Trey Guerieri to manage the property after neighbors notified him of the squatters.  Mr. Guerieri initiated eviction proceedings in early 2025 but eviction did not take place until May. The constable notified the squatters they had 72 hours to leave the premises.  They didn't leave so an employee arrived with two JPD officers later in the week and evicted them.  

The junk inside the house completely filled a dumpster.  The stripper pole was removed and placed inside the dumpster as well. 

The squatters were gone but problems remained.  Within a few months, someone stole the compressor and rest of the HVAC system.  Windows were busted out and vagrants rummaged through the house.  The front door and windows were left open for three weeks in July.  Naturally vagrants roamed through what could no longer be called a house.  Kroger shopping carts appeared on the property (There were half a dozen shopping carts on property at eviction).  

5114 Old Canton Road became the subject of much discussion on social media sites such as Nextdoor and Facebook.  After receiving numerous complaints, code enforcement investigated and promptly issued citations to Mr. Geurieri and his client.  

The case was brought before Judge Reynolds Tuesday.   Neighbors testified on how the property affected them.  One neighbor, an architect, described in haunting detail how he and his family were huddled on the floor of their home during the shootouts.  He said the pit bulls chased him and his kids down the street.  Judge Reynolds shook his head as the soft-spoken neighbor spoke.  Another neighbor pointed out no action had been taken to repair the home since the eviction seven months ago.  Workers finally appeared - on the day of the hearing.  

Mr. Guerieri said he was rehabbing the property.  However, he said he had not spoken to the owner in some time and didn't know if he was alive.  However, the owner had given him power of attorney to act on his behalf where the property was concerned.  The defendant said it would cost at least $30,000 to rehabilitate the house.  He said he would also have to install an HVAC system.   Through it all, Mr. Guerieri was respectful of the Court and quite amenable to its sentence.  

Prosecutor Chandra Gayten entered the pictures (some are posted below) into evidence.  Judge Reynolds reviewed them before pronouncing judgment.  

The Court ordered Mr. Guerieri to completely renovate the property within 120 days.  A status conference will be held in 60 days.  Code enforcement will be allowed to conduct walk-through inspections of the property.  He reminded the defendant he was the judge who ordered the demolition of Hotel O, Briarwood 1, and other Jackson eyesores.  He said he would order the demolition of the house on 5114 Old Canton Road if it was not rehabbed within 120 days.  

Judge Rynolds sentenced Mr. Guerieri to 30 days in jail but suspended the sentence.  The judge said the sentence would be motivation for compliance with his order.