MEMPHIS, Tenn. —A man accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend at Shelby Farms Park two years ago accepted on Wednesday a plea deal with 40 years behind bars.

Jackson Hopper, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and will avoid a trial in the murder case.

Prosecutors said Hopper shot and killed Ellie Young after a cancer walk on October 19, 2024.

In February of this year, Hopper had rejected a similar 40-year plea deal. During that hearing, Hopper’s attorney said there was a private meeting in the courtroom where Hopper’s mother begged her son to take the plea deal at the time.

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The attorney told the court, “Mr. Hopper, contrary to the advice given to him by his mother and by Mr. Warren, and contrary to my opinion as to what the outcome of a jury trial would be, wants to ask, Your Honor, to keep the trial date in July.”

On Wednesday, Hopper accepted a plea deal and will serve 40 years in prison.

Judge Carlyn Addison accepted the terms of his plea and addressed Young’s family, who were in the crowd.

“The devastation for both families is immeasurable. The trauma that will continue is, again, immeasurable,” she said.

Young’s family did not speak after the hearing. Attorney Mark McDaniel Jr. spoke on their behalf.

“Ultimately, this spares them additional trauma of having to get on the stand at the trial and having the CSI evidence that would, unfortunately, show things that they would never be able to recover from,” he told FOX13.

Prosecutor Monica Timmerman spoke after the hearing, saying they were prepared for a deal or to go to trial this summer.

“It has been an emotional ride; it has been a very intense case. The facts were always on our side, but there were so many of them that getting them all together, it has involved a lot of work and a lot of communication with the family,” she said.

Hopper’s ex-girlfriend, Ellie Young, was a medical student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Her family has filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Hopper and his family—alleging that the Hopper family knew that Jackson had a history of domestic violence.

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Young’s mother testified that Hopper abused Young for months and sent the family an apology letter. She also told the court that she spoke with Young’s grandmother one week before the murder.