Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Twins: Twins vs. Twins’ chronicles the brutal murder of 26-year-old Rahsaan Branham-Reid in Charlottesville, Virginia, in September 2015. The episode follows how the investigators had to navigate the various complexities of the case that presented two pairs of twins at two ends. If you are interested in knowing the identities and current whereabouts of the perpetrators, here’s what we know.
How Did Rahsaan Reid Die?
Rahsaan Branham-Reid and his twin brother, Jarreau, were born on September 1, 1989, to Irita Branham and Doug Reid in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They hailed from a good, working family, where their mother was a teacher, and their father worked as a mailman. Moving to Charlottesville, Virginia, at a very young age, the twins were meritorious students, going to class every day, attending college together, and graduating from Old Dominion University Norfolk in fashion merchandising.
After getting their degree, the twins moved back to Charlottesville and worked at a graphic t-shirt printing company with the ultimate goal of opening their own company. According to Allen Dooms, a friend of the twins, Rahsaan was the laid-back one, while Jarreau was the more popular and louder of the brothers in the community. In 2015, the latter met Heather Jasper, an employee of a car rental company, and the two reportedly started dating.
On September 24, 2015, Rahsaan and Jarreau got embroiled in an altercation in front of their Cavalier Crossing Apartments, in which the 26-year-old Rahsaan was shot in the face and got fatally wounded. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries about a month later, on October 20, 2015.
Who Killed Rahsaan Reid?
The investigators did not have to search for the perpetrators since they were arrested at the crime scene almost immediately without any incident. They were twin brothers, Ron and Tron Jasper, from Louisa County, Virginia. However, the detectives had to look into their history before they understood what led to the eventual fatal confrontation. Ron and Tron grew up in a large family with three older sisters and a younger brother in their rural Louisa County home.
Growing up, the twins were very close, with Tron being the more outgoing and dominant of the two brothers. He always looked after his younger sibling, and the two of them were virtually inseparable. Their bond remained strong as they joined high school and started working at a convenience store to support their family and pay the bills. At that time, Ron fell in love with Heather, a freshman who was two years younger than him. As their relationship blossomed, the twins decided to drop from school and work full-time to support the financial needs of their family.
Tron started putting in extra hours at the convenience store, while Ron joined a wine manufacturing company, where he was tasked with packaging and shipping bottles. When the twins turned 18, devastating news hit them when both of them simultaneously started to suffer from kidney failures. However, they were fortunate to find donors and underwent successful surgeries. During his entire ailment, Heather continually supported Ron and looked after him, even as he became more demanding and frustrated.
After the successful surgeries, Ron and Heather decided to tie the knot and moved to Charlottesville, along with Tron. But misfortune struck the new couple again when Ron began suffering from post-surgery complexities and got bedridden again. As Heather started to take care of her husband again, his failing health and insecurities began to put a toll on their marriage, and their relationship became strained. She was working at a Charlottesville car rental company when she met Jarreau.
Athletic and good-looking, Jarreau had a great sense of humor, and the two reportedly began to get close as the initial flirtations transformed into a full-blown affair. According to the show, Heather did not tell him she had not yet divorced her ailing husband. However, multiple sources claimed they were still working on their marriage and had taken a trip together to the beach less than a week before the fatal confrontation.
When the Jasper twins learned about Heather’s infidelity, they were enraged and wanted to confront her and her lover. That chance came on September 24, 2015, when the twins went to the Cavalier Crossing apartments, where they believed Heather lived with a female roommate. According to court testimonials, the brothers retrieved a cell charger from the truck they shared with her when the Reid twins confronted them. A neighbor filmed the entire confrontation, which served as a critical piece of evidence during the trial.
Ron Remains Imprisoned, While Tron Was Released
Ron claimed the Reid twins and another individual taunted him for his serious health issues, and he had taken out his gun to scare them. Due to the prescribed blood thinners, he was too weak and wanted to scare them away with the firearm. However, when Rahsaan came towards him brandishing a knife, he resorted to shooting him in the face, maliciously wounding him.
Ron’s defense counsel claimed it was in self-defense, but the prosecution presented text exchanges with Heather where he had allegedly made threats. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison on the homicide charge and three years for the weapon charge in 2016. According to his inmate records, Ron, now 37, is serving his sentence at the Greensville Correctional Center and will be eligible for parole in December 2035.
Tron was charged with one count of misdemeanors for brandishing a firearm and released on his recognizance. He was convicted in December 2015 and sentenced to a year in jail, with six months suspended. Tron appealed the sentencing in 2017 but withdrew his appeal in May of the same year, opting to serve his sentence. He has been released and leads a quiet life away from the public eye.
