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Plot to kill Fla. teen Seath Tyler Jackson hatched in hatred, say police

Plot to kill Fla. teen Seath Tyler Jackson hatched in hatred, say police
Seath Tyler Jackson Personal Photo

(CBS/WKMG/AP) OCALA, Fla. - When Seath Tyler Jackson received a text Sunday afternoon from a 15-year-old ex-girlfriend saying she wanted to rekindle their romance and that they should meet at a central Florida house, a female friend of Seath's sensed something wasn't right.

Pictures: Six arrested in brutal murder of Fla. boy

"I wouldn't fall for that," 16-year-old Brittnay Jones told Jackson, she recalled to The Associated Press.

The 15-year-old Jackson ignored his friend's advice and went Sunday to a house in Summerfield, about 60 miles northwest of Orlando.

There, authorities said, he was fatally beaten and shot in a plot to lure him there and kill him. Then, Seath's body was stuffed into a sleeping bag and burned, and the remains were put in paint buckets and dumped at a remote lime rock pit, authorities allege.

According to CBS affiliate WKMG, six people, including the 15-year-old ex-girlfriend and three other teens, were arrested Tuesday in Seath's murder.

Those arrested include:

  • Michael Bargo, 18, of Summerfield, charged with first-degree murder
  • Charlie Kay Ely, 18, of Summerfield, charged with first-degree murder
  • Amber E. Wright, 15, of Summerfield, charged with first-degree murder
  • Justin Soto, 20, of Summerfield, charged with first-degree murder
  • James Havens III, 37, of Summerfield, charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder
  • Kyle Hooper, 16, of Summerfield, charged with first-degree murder

On Tuesday, a woman told deputies her 16-year-old son had witnessed Seath's slaying in a house in Summerfield, near Ocala.

Authorities said the teen, who has not been publicly identified, told investigators the group plotted the slaying because Bargo hated Seath.

Authorities, as well as family and friends, said Bargo was dating Seath's ex-girlfriend and had gotten into a fight with him several weeks ago, WKMG reported.

Five of the suspects were gathered at the house Sunday "when Michael Bargo began to speak of his hatred for the victim Seath Jackson," authorities wrote the 16-year-old boy told them. "The conversation then turned into a plan to lure Seath to the residence so that Michael Bargo could kill him with the assistance of other persons."

According to the sheriff's office, Bargo shot Seath several times. When Seath tried to escape, Soto held him down while Bargo continued to shoot him, authorities said. Then, according to the report, Bargo broke the teen's knees and group members hog-tied him and put his body in a sleeping bag, which was placed in a fire pit in the back yard and burned.

At that point, the sheriff's office said, the group used bleach to clean the house and shoveled Jackson's remains into 5-gallon paint cans.

Investigators are still searching for a .22-caliber revolver used in the slaying. The sheriff's office said a dive team found three 5-gallon paint buckets Wednesday afternoon in a lime rock pit, and the contents were being tested to confirm that they are Seath's remains.

More on CrimesiderApril 20, 2011 - Six arrested in brutal murder of Fla. boy Seath Tyler Jackson


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