Teen Triangle and Facebook Feud Lead to Murder of 15-Year-Old Florida Boy
Ex-girlfriend used texts to lure victim to his death, police say
April 21, 2011 -- A teen triangle and bitter Facebook feud culminated in the savage killing of a 15-year-old Florida boy who was lured to his death by his former girlfriend, law-enforcement officials said.
Even the lawyer for one of the suspects called the killing "pretty damn depraved."
Seath Jackson was hit in the head and shot, but he still tried desperately to flee the home in Summerfield where the attack occurred Sunday, police said.
He was shot again and his body was placed in a bathtub, where his knees were broken so his body would fit in a sleeping bag. He was still alive, so he was shot again, and then his body was burned in a backyard fire pit, according to arrest documents. His ashes were shoveled into paint containers.
Michael Bargo, 18; Amber Wright, 15; her brother Kyle Hooper, 16; Charlie Ely, 18; and Justin Soto, 20, have been charged with first-degree murder. James Haven, 37, has been charged with accessory to murder for allegedly helping to dispose of the body and driving Bargo out of town.
Photos: The Investigation Into Murder of Seath Jackson
The community, in the bucolic horse country of Florida 65 miles northeast of Orlando, is reeling.
"It's an unimaginable act, the idea that six people would come together and carry out to kill a 15-year-old," Marion County Police Officer Judge Cochran said. "It's not something you expect to happen anywhere, particularly not in Marion County. We're a religious community. People move here for the level of quiet."
On a Facebook page RIP Seath Tyler Jackson, friends and strangers alike expressed horror and anger. "I hope his murderers rott in hell," wrote Courtney Jewell, a friend of the victim.
Police said the killing had its origins in the animosity between Bargo and the victim. "This violence came from Michael Bargo's intense hatred for Seath Jackson. Because of the hatred, he formed a plan to kill him," said Cochran.
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