Trapped: The Murder Of Seath Tyler Jackson

You can tell by their grief. 15-year-old Seth Jackson was loved by his friends and family. Carrie Williams’ kids were close to him, and she was with his parents when detectives broke the news.  really hard. A bunch [snorts] of his friends were over there, and it was just the look on his parents’ face was just horrible.

 The motive behind the violence is something everyone is struggling to understand. Their only clue Seth’s Facebook page and a series of messages, an online argument that may have fueled a vicious murder.  About half an hour north of Orlando sits Summerfield in Marion County, Florida, home to just under 34,000 people. Residents say it’s a very peaceful place to live.

 Sprawling country estates, lots of equestrian properties, too. Golf courses and nice retirement areas. Summerfield experiences very little crime compared to neighboring urban centers in Central Florida, and violent crime, especially, is rare there. Historical sites, extensive trails, and scenic lakes and rivers to walk around make it a really lovely place to raise a family in, retire to, or simply just visit.

But all of that peacefulness would stand in stark contrast to what happened there one spring day in 2011. Sunday, April 17th, 2011. Seth Tyler Jackson had been texting his mom, Sonya, most of the day, and all had seemed okay. But communication had oddly and abruptly stopped. Sonya and Seth’s dad, Scott, had a weird feeling.

 Things had been really tough for him lately. He’d gone through some heartache when he and his girlfriend, Amber, had broken up, and his family’s mind did briefly go to him running away. But as the hours passed, Sonya knew that it wasn’t just a teen acting out. Her son would have called her. He would have confided in her. Something was wrong, and very quickly she was fearing the worst.

And then, she got an anonymous call. Seth had apparently been shot. Where he was, how injured he was, and what had happened, she had no idea. He was reported missing, his description and clothing given, and this set in motion a dark and twisted investigation that would take many a turn. Seth Jackson was described as outgoing and funny.

 He was always outside, and his favorite hobbies were riding dirt bikes and fishing. His dream when he was old enough was to be a UFC fighter.    He had two older brothers, and was especially close to his mom. They were a really tight family. One of the last time Sonya had heard from him was that Sunday evening. They had a phone call and exchanged some text messages.

He asked her for a ride home. When she told him it would take 10 minutes for his dad to get home and then set off to get him, he apparently got angry and told her, “Never mind.” It was a weird interaction, unusual. He had mentioned going to meet his ex-girlfriend, Amber, so his mom passed this over to the police.

Detectives talked with Amber and another girl called Charlie Ealey. They both said they had seen him, but only from across the street. He was at an intersection arguing with his mom. Investigators were looking at Seth’s phone records and social media interactions. Seth and Amber had dated for around 3 months.

 They’d broken up and gotten back together a few times, but it was over for good when Seth suspected she was cheating on him with 18-year-old Michael Barger Jr. Someone that really didn’t like Seth and the feeling was mutual. This resulted in an angry and bitter breakup off the back of what some would say was a volatile relationship anyway.

 Marred from the start by drug taking, drinking, partying, and the general hormones of being that age. As soon as the relationship ended, Amber and Michael were spending more time together than ever, and Seth was really hurt. A lot of their breakup, as can be imagined, was played out on social media and between classes in the school.

Facebook in particular was being used by everyone involved. And everyone not directly involved was watching the school gossip unfold. Nasty comments, insults, swearing back and forth for days, and this wasn’t over private messages. This was all on their public profiles.    And the day Seth went missing, Amber had text him asking if they could meet and maybe get back together.

Seth’s friend Britney said that she sensed something was not right. “I wouldn’t fall for that,” she cautiously told him. But the 15-year-old said he was going to go and hear her out. So, he set off to the address of the trailer that Amber had given him. And now, Seth was missing. The address was 13896 Southeast 53rd Avenue.

And this trailer was being rented by 18-year-old Charlie Ely. She was a good friend of Michael Barger and Amber. The trailer was run down and vacant with little furniture inside.    It was dirty and messy and used mainly as a hangout place for the group. The group consisted of 18-year-old Michael Barger Jr.

, who was now apparently 15-year-old Amber’s boyfriend, 16-year-old Kyle Hooper, who was Amber’s brother and an old friend of Seth’s. 18-year-old Charlie Elee and 20-year-old Justin Soto, known to his friends as Roach. At the time, Charlie, Michael, Kyle, and Justin were pretty much living there. No rules, no school, no responsibilities, just parties, drinking, drugs, and damage.

When Seth’s missing persons report hit the local media, Amber’s older brother Kyle asked his mom if he could talk to her. He revealed part of a story that would turn out to be so horrific. Detectives said they had never seen anything so diabolical in all of their years working. Kyle Hooper sat in the station with his mom and recounted the same story he had told her.

Seth had turned up at their trailer and because of the contentious relationship between Seth and Amber, Kyle admitted to getting a stick and hitting him, telling him to get out of the trailer and leave them all alone.  My name is Rhonda.  And you must be Kyle.  Tell me the story that you told your mom and start from the beginning, okay?  Okay.

 Seth wanted to talk to my sister and I don’t like the kid completely cuz he has put his hands on my sister and I hit him over the head with the stick.   Who did you hit?  Seth. And he was in the chair and I got in the kitchen and said, “Now get the [ __ ] out the house.” And then all of a sudden I hear bam bam bam    like Seth and Orlando bullets into him.

 So you saw Michael Bargo shoot Seth?  Yes, ma’am.  Kyle went to walk away and then heard three bangs. He realized that Michael Bargo had shot Seth. Kyle’s mom rubbed her head in disbelief. This was such an awful thing for her kids to have seen and been a part of, but little did she know this wasn’t even half the story.

 And Detective Rhonda Streep, who was in charge of the case, knew it. Amber Wright was waiting down the hall and once Kyle’s interview was over, Amber took his seat next to their mom. She also said that Seth had turned up looking to talk to her.  Okay, Seth comes to the  Seth knocked on the door and Charlie answered it and she was like, “Well, what do you want?” And he was like, “I just need to talk to Amber.

 Can I come in?” She let him in. He sits in the chair. Me and her sitting by each other on the couch and out of nowhere Kyle just gets up and hits him.  She told the same story about Kyle hitting him and Amber said she turned to Charlie and said to run into Charlie’s room. They both heard the gunshots but they did not see the shooting happen.

 I looked at Charlie. I was like, “Run.” We ran to her room. We went in her bathroom and shut the door and we heard another door just fly open and we just heard gunshot after gunshot after gunshot.  They didn’t come out of the room for hours and when they finally did, they could just smell bleach everywhere.

 So, when did you guys finally come out of the room?  The next morning.  Came out what time?  We didn’t wake up till maybe 11:00, 12:00 o’clock.  Was anything different?  No. All it It just smelled like pure bleach in my house. That’s it. Like they tried to clean something up.  But detectives knew Seth hadn’t just shown up at the trailer that day spontaneously looking to talk to her.

Amber had given him very specific instructions to get to a very specific place. The messages had started with Amber saying, “Hey, can you talk?” There was a bit of back and forth and a phone call. Amber sent another message saying that she wanted to meet him but was going to bring her friend Charlie.

 “But don’t tell anybody what’s going on because I want to make sure we can work things out before anyone knows,” she added. Seth replied, “Amber, if you have me jumped, I will never give you the time of day. So, if I get jumped, say goodbye, all right?” “I swear you’re not, Seth. I could never do that to you.

 I just want me and you back,” she said. Clearly there was something about the message that had bothered Seth as his mind went right to the idea that he might be getting jumped and his friend Brittany had felt the same. Sonia, Seth’s mom, said at first that Amber seemed like a typical teenage girl, perfectly fine, but over time she started to see very manipulative flickers, controlling tendencies that she just didn’t like.

When Amber and Seth broke up and she got involved with Michael, things had really taken a turn. Michael Bargo openly hated Seth. He also believed from what Amber told him that he had abused Amber during their relationship. Amber had said a lot about Seth that really hadn’t sat well with people.

 There had definitely been arguments and public spats on Facebook, and there had been a few altercations between Michael and Seth off of the back of it all. Michael had even turned up at Seth’s home one day, and Sonia overheard him confronting him. “I have a bullet with your name on it,” he said. This was becoming far more than teenage drama and fallings out.

 This felt darker. Detective Streep said she knew she had to catch Amber in a lie and her whole story would fall apart. And in the second interview, she did not hold back.  This right here, and right now, Amber, is where the rubber hits the road. Okay? You really told me everything. So, you can sit there and you can continue to lie and I’m going to get walk out and treat you like a piece of garbage, or you can sit here and treat me with the respect that I treated you with.

Okay? And you can tell me the truth. What’s your choice going to be? So, let’s start at the beginning again, and you tell me the story. And the first time that I think you’re lying, I’m getting up and walking out of here, and I don’t care what happens to you.  Amber cried a lot and talked a lot.  Like I went in the house and laid on the floor.

And Mike shot him again.  Did you participate in cleaning up?  I was handed the bleach.  [snorts]  Was handed to Roach. And you dumped it?  Who handed Roach the bleach?  Mike did.  Okay.  And it was dumped all in the my or the uh kitchen. And Roach hands and knees scrubbing it all up. Did you scrub anything with bleach? The door.

 You scrubbed the door? What door? The screen door that’s like on the inside of the regular house door. Okay. What were you thinking about getting Seth up there? I don’t I wasn’t thinking at the time. Did you just hate Seth that bad? I don’t hate him. I was hurt.  Why were you hurt? What happened? Every time he Every time he told me he gave me a STD and I got the flu like in my nuggets and then he kept driving me insane.

 I lost all my friends to him. Everybody that I was so close with did not forgive me anymore. So that’s why you really did this cuz you were mad at him. Come on. I’m just asking.  Which one is it in you? Is that why? Was that your reasoning behind it? Was just you were you were mad at him. You didn’t have any reason.

 I really didn’t. Like we were just saying oh you should call Seth. That and all that stuff. And why would he want you to call Seth? When he told me he wanted to be like I am. No, that’s not what he told you. I’m telling you now. I’m going to get the [ __ ] out of here. This is your last chance.

 I’m not playing with you little girl. Do you understand me? Okay. I’m done with being lied to today. Okay. Okay. So let’s start again. We’re going to start fresh. Where’s Seth’s body now? They won’t let me see it. They don’t My told me that in car that he was going to take it to the Corey.    She said that her’s and Seth’s relationship was great until they both started partying and then things had changed.

 She said their relationship wasn’t really a relationship. It was just teenagers doing drugs and being mixed  up in everybody else’s business and it was messy. She still maintained that she and Charlie had hidden in the bedroom while Seth was attacked and killed. They went to sleep and when they woke up the next morning, the clean up had already taken place.

 By this point, investigators had already been out to the trailer and there was no door on the room Amber said she and Charlie went into. They would have seen what was going on. And when everyone else’s accounts came out, it seemed that Amber and Charlie had had far more of an active role than they were leading everyone to believe. Over the next day, everyone that hung out at that trailer that day was brought in for questioning.

Charlie Ely and Justin Sota soon followed for their respective interviews.  Hello.  Hello.  How are you?  Good, but I’m going crazy.  Got to go crazy? Okay. Well, we don’t need that. I’m Detective with the Sheriff’s Office.  Charlie.  Charlie? What’s your last name, Charlie?  Ely.  What What else is with you in this house?  Justin and Sota.

 Is that your boyfriend or anything?  No, I’m married and my husband’s in prison.  Is this the only person that lives with you, Justin?  There’s Justin, Kyle. Justin moved in not even a week ago.  Who else lives with you besides Kyle?  Well, Mike was staying, but he was there for a week and  Mike?  Um Fargo.

 So, right now we have you, Justin, Kyle, and Mike?  Mhm. And Amber doesn’t live there, but like she’s been over.  Do you do drugs?  Um I’m pregnant.  Okay. Well, I’m [laughter] I’m The reason why I’m asking is  I have before.  So, after an hour, Seth came back to your house?  Yeah.  Okay, what happened after that?  I let him in and he sat in the chair.

let  Seth in?  Yes, I let him in because he said he wanted to talk to Amber. So, I let him in not thinking anything was wrong with it. Amber and Seth were talking and Kyle comes out of nowhere and hits him and me and Amber dart to my room.  Where Where did he hit him?  Over the head cuz like I looked back and while me and Amber were running to my room, Kyle said, “Get the [ __ ] out.

” And he went out that way and we heard Mike’s door hit something and Mike came out and we heard gunshots. And  [clears throat]  Mike like he ran into my room and he told me and Amber to shut up if we said anything to anyone he would [ __ ] kill us.  This is after the gunshots?  Yeah.  He came back into the house?  Yeah, with the gun and he was waving it around.

 of gun was it?  It was a revolver.  Okay.  And me and him were touching and [ __ ] so I don’t know if our fingerprints are on it. We don’t really want to be in the house.  Okay, but what did you notice about the house?  It like I just like it looked like cleaner.  Can Can you draw me a drawing of your your house?  I guess.

 [laughter]  I I I just want to try to get a a picture of what exactly happened.  draw where my house is a crime scene, so I don’t care.  Draw me like the front door, how you come in, living room.  Okay. I’ll start with this. This is the whole house itself.  Do you think what you did was right or wrong?  I think it was wrong.

 Well, at least I I’m I’m getting that from you. I We know the difference between right and wrong.  I just want to die.  I don’t want you to You have a baby to live for, okay?  Yeah, but how am I going to live for it if I’m in jail?  It’s a bridge we’ll have to cross when we get there.  I just don’t want to get in trouble.

I didn’t even want to get in this I just wanted just to get my life together. I was planning on we’re going to the military and everything, but You know. I’m in the picture now.  So you  never leave the house.  You’re almost there.  But I thought that  You’re almost there. You never know. They It was a little bit more than that.

 They had This whole thing has been planned. Can we agree with that?  I mean, I don’t know. I wasn’t there.  you not agree with me that this thing was planned prior to him getting over to the house? You knew that he was coming over to the house. Can we agree on that? Okay. So you knew after the point which you met him at the corner that you guys were going to get him to the house. You knew that he was coming.

It wasn’t like it was unannounced, correct?  Yeah.  So you lied to me about that. Is that correct?  Yes.  That’s what I’m trying to get to understand. We’re almost there, but we’re not We’re not there yet.  were there though, like  We’re not there yet.  I don’t know. I guess they were planning it out or whatnot, but I had like been talking on the phone with like my friend Megan in the front yard or whatever, and I don’t know when they planned it. I really don’t.

 They said Amber said something  You may not know, and I’m going to give you this one. You may not know when they the initial plan, but you were part of the plan once it got started. Can we agree on that?  Yeah.  The person that everyone was pointing the finger at was Michael Barger. But he was missing.  I think it was  I had to.

 You knew we were lying.  At one point, they were all put in the same interview room together as police watched them talking through the camera.  You know how many people are going to [ __ ] hate us for this? People that don’t even know us are going to be looking for us if we get out of this. There’s a [ __ ] 15-year-old kid murdered because of us.

Do you honestly think people want to be around that? Do you think people think there’s those kind of people are supposed to be here?  Yeah, but it’s not our fault.  Hell. I don’t mean like them [ __ ] kind of people. And I’m one of them now.  I don’t mean to  I didn’t even do anything.  Yeah, and I didn’t want none of this to happen.

 Mhm, yeah, that’s what I mean. We just got stupid and fell into Mike’s trap.  Like always.  Exactly.    Like always.  Like always, because he knows he can talk me into anything.  [snorts]  I just got to say that I didn’t see the body. I didn’t see any blood. I stayed in my room.  And you completely lost it.

 I have no words.  [snorts]  And now we’re all going down for what Mike did.  [snorts]  When you hear her laughing she’s like, “Where was the blood at? Where was the body at?” I was like, “I don’t know where it all happened.”  Rhonda called it one big performance from Amber. I believe she is manipulative.

 I believe she’s diabolical. I believe that she really orchestrated a lot of this, Rhonda said. She came back in the room and very bluntly told them they were all off to their respective holding cells for the night. They’d all been booked on premeditated first-degree murder charges.  You’re all going to be booked with first-degree premeditated murder.

 You two will go to the juvenile assessment center. You both You will go to the Marion County Jail. Okay?  For how long?  Take a deep breath. You’ll have no bond. You won’t be getting out. This is a very serious crime. I don’t think it gets much more serious than this.  Charlie burst into tears, but Amber initially sat there very calm, very quiet, as if she’d just been told something minor.

 Rhonda said she clearly still thought that she was getting out of this and going home at some point very soon. Amber said, “Even if she served time, she was only expecting a few years.”  [cough and clears throat]  It seemed Michael Bargo had caught on to what was going on and had already asked Justin Soto to drive him 80 miles away so he could stay with another girlfriend’s family.

 Once there, he told anyone who would listen in very graphic detail what he had done to Seth. He was found and arrested the next day. His face was pretty beaten up and definitely told a story.  You stated you want to talk to a lawyer. Do you want I talk to a lawyer or do you want to talk to me? I want to clarify that first.  I’m going to talk to a lawyer.

 What what what the hell is going on?  I think you clearly know. I can’t talk to you about anything. You’ve already requested your attorney. You lost that opportunity to talk.  The 18-year-old immediately asked for a lawyer and refused to say anything. He later denied that he and Amber were anything more than just friends.

Amber said they had matching tattoos and acted like boyfriend and girlfriend, but she would later say that she had slept with Michael just to hurt Seth. The investigation was pointing towards Michael being consumed with jealousy and hatred for Seth and whatever was or was not going on with Amber, he wanted Seth out of the picture regardless.

Sonya said this confirmed all of her feelings about Amber and a far more blunt Scott said, “I want to kill a [ __ ] No, let me put this another way. I want to torture all of them and I wouldn’t lose a bit of sleep over it.” It had started one day at Charlie’s trailer when the five had been hanging out. Michael started to speak about how much he hated Seth, which quickly turned into he has to go.

They had to kill him. This turned into a plan to lure the 15-year-old out to the trailer with the intention of killing him. Amber even asked Michael if it was time to light the fire after she knew Seth was coming over. After she text him and Seth got there, Justin and Kyle hit him over the head with pieces of wood before Michael shot him several times.

Seth had tried to run away and almost made it to the main road before Justin grabbed him and pinned him down while Michael shot him again. They dragged him to the bathtub and Michael had the idea to remove Seth’s teeth to prevent identification and break his kneecaps so they could force him into a sleeping bag.

At some point, they realized that Seth was just still alive, so he was shot again. Some of the group hog-tied him and forced his body into the sleeping bag. He was then put in the fire pit in the backyard and burned.  Mike and Kyle put him in like this on a body bag and  What’s a body bag?  I don’t know.

 It’s like a bag or something.  Okay.  We took him out to the fire.  I just need to  know, did you guys put the body into the burn pit?  No.  Well,  I grabbed one. I helped him put him in there. But then I walked back into the house  and he did what he did. I told him I can’t do it. He put him in the body  Was he dead when you guys put him in the fire?  Yeah.

 How do you know that?  Cuz Mike shot  him again.  Because he was still alive?  Yeah.  So, he took at least four bullets. He was still alive. So, Mike shot him one more time in the bathroom because he was still alive.  The group sat outside watching the fire burn and smolder all night long, drinking, smoking, laughing.

How long Seth remained conscious for after this sustained attack will never be known. His ashes were put into huge paint cans which had been emptied onto the grass and the group left these in the house overnight. They covered the place in bleach and made an attempt to clean the blood and burn any evidence. And this is where we meet a sixth and final name in this case.

37-year-old James Haven III was Kyle and Amber’s ex-stepfather. He arrived the following morning and helped dispose of Seth’s remains by transporting the paint cans to a water-filled rock quarry in Ocala and dumping them in there. He claimed he had no idea what was in the containers but police were confident that James knew what he was walking into before he did.

Investigators believe that even though Michael Bargo pulled the trigger, Amber loaded the gun that day. Seth would never have gone to that trailer if it wasn’t for her and she knew that. She knew what Michael was planning to do and she co-signed it. Everyone did. Michael, consumed with hatred and jealousy, had come up with his plan, convinced everyone else to participate and whether they were willing to or not, they still took part.

 Either in the attack, the clean up and cover up or both. This wasn’t one person committing a murder and everyone else standing by. There were multiple people involved at different stages and each of them would eventually have to answer for their own role in what had happened to Seth Jackson. A thorough examination of the trailer turned up blood in various rooms.

   The gun and ammunition and small bones and belongings in the fire pit outside.    Detective Rhonda Street called Sonia and said she was coming over to talk to her. When she got there, the house was packed with family members. One person said that Sonia had called everyone over because they thought that Rhonda would be walking in with Seth and they were all there ready to welcome him home.

Rhonda said that as she was telling her she could feel her eyes burning through tears. She was listening and she was hearing, but she was just scanning her face looking and praying for any flickers of what she was hearing might not be true. To tell someone their child is gone is painful enough as it is, but to tell them everything that Seth had gone through in his final moments, it was a really rough conversation.

 15-year-old Seth Jackson was beaten, shot, and burned at a Summerfield home Sunday.  Right now, local detectives are piecing together the final brutal moments of Seth Jackson’s life.  Investigators say he was lured to the home by former girlfriend, ninth grader Amber Wright, then attacked, shot, and burned.

 Breaking news in Marion County this morning where six people have been arrested in connection to a murder last weekend. Those six are accused of luring 15-year-old  Seth Jackson to a home in Summerfield and beating and then shooting him.  Michael Bargo Jr., Charlie K. Elee, Justin Edward Soto, Amber Wright, and Kyle Hooper were all charged with premeditated first-degree murder.

James Haven III was charged as an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Despite Amber and Kyle being 15 and 16, given the appalling nature of the crime, the torture, the planning, they were indicted as adults. The state said at this time they were not offering the group any plea deals. Either those charged were facing the death penalty or life in prison.

 Nothing in between was going to cut it.  It was just a teenage breakup.  But it ended in a murder so brutal detectives said they’d never encountered anything like it before. And right now they’re still searching for the victim’s remains. They say 15-year-old Amber Wright lured her 15-year-old ex-boyfriend Seth Jackson to a house where her suspected new boyfriend plotted to kill him.

 New this hour, Channel 9’s Nancy Alvarez has the Facebook conversation exposing how contentious their relationship was.  You can tell by their grief. 15-year-old Seth Jackson was loved by his friends and family. Carrie Williams’ kids were close to him and she was with his parents when detectives broke the news of his murder.

 It was really hard.  [snorts]  A bunch of his friends were over there and it was just the look on his parents’ face was just horrible.  Detectives say Seth’s ex-girlfriend lured him to this house with text messages about wanting to get back together. She is one of five people accused of torturing and murdering him after he arrived.

 He was beaten about the head with some wooden object. He may have been hit in the head with an ax handle. Uh he was shot once. Uh he was able to break free. He was tackled. He was shot once once again.  The motive behind the violence is something everyone is struggling to understand.

 Their only clue, Seth’s Facebook page and a series of messages between him and his ex-girlfriend filled with profanity. He accuses her of cheating. She writes, “You continuously write expletive about me.” Seth posted, “I said I was done with you and you should be done with me.” Then Amber posted, “It takes a real man to accept the fact that he got broke up with.

” An online argument that may have fueled a vicious murder.  Kids fight all the time. How would How could you go and murder somebody, premeditate a murder like that?  Here outside the home where the murder happened, a memorial continues to grow.  The Marion County Sheriff’s investigators said that the way that this had been plotted, carried out, and the level of disregard for human life was something they had never seen before.

 Our detectives, seasoned detectives, shook their heads in disbelief because this type of first-degree murder is unimaginable, Long said. Finding out who had killed Seth was only half the battle. They still didn’t know where he was. They knew the paint cans had been transported to a flooded rock quarry, so it was time to search the water.

On the way there, they knew that they were on the right path when they saw the big circles on the ground where the cans had been briefly put down before being moved again. Divers went into the quarry and eventually recovered the containers. Three 5-gallon buckets with wires and bricks tied to them to help them sink, and inside was Seth’s remains.

 Well, on a day of big stories, this one is likely to make national headlines. Marion County deputies think this bucket holds the remains of a teen they say was killed in a horrific way. In all, dive teams found three buckets after hours of searching a lime rock pit in Ocala. It’s about 30 miles from the home of 53rd Avenue in Summerfield, where deputies say Seth Jackson was lured, beaten, shot repeatedly, and then his body burned.

Six people are charged. The youngest just 15 years old. Local 6’s Louis Bolden has more.  Crime scene investigators spent the day sifting through the backyard of this house. The backyard where detectives say 15-year-old Seth Jackson’s body was burned after he had been beaten and shot to death.  The details is gross.

 Neighbors still can’t believe it happened.  You would don’t expect that here. That This neighborhood everybody knows each other.  Jackson was with his friend Britney Jones when he got a text from Amber asking him to come over.  He’s like, “No, I probably won’t.” I was like, “Well, don’t go home tonight.

” He was like, “I will. I will.” And then he came here anyways.  It’s heinous. I don’t know what else to say. It’s horrible.  Typically, it takes a long time and a lot of heat to burn a body completely. So, it was burning for several hours through the night into the morning.  27-year-old James Havens allegedly helped Bargo dump the remains, which detectives believe they found in a lime rock pit Wednesday afternoon.

 I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know anybody was that sick to do something like that to a 15-year-old little kid.  All of the suspects are charged with first-degree murder except for James Havens, who is charged as an accessory after the fact.  I loved the boy and I I truly miss him. And I really wish it wouldn’t have happened to him.

 I mean, there was obvious dis- dislike between uh Bargo and Seth Jackson. How they got to point in their lives, that part I don’t know.  Some people that were mad at him over a girl and that’s why all this took place.  The original uh report came in concerning Seth Jackson that he was either runaway or he was missing.

 Well, when that report hit the uh the media, the the kid uh Kyle mentioned to his mother, “He’s not missing. He’s dead.”  Investigators say 37-year-old James Havens III was aware of the plan to kill the teenager. He allegedly assisted in the disposal of the victim’s remains.  Honestly, I they deserve to be in there.

 And I hope they never get out.  Even though this gave his family something to lay to rest, somewhere they could one day visit to be with him, this nightmare was far from over. It was time for trial prep, and with everyone pleading not guilty, there was a lot of painful facts that had to be laid out in court. Ones that would have to be sat through six times over at this rate.

Charlie Ealy’s trial was first. One detective said that she had been laughing and joking with her family about where they were all going to go for dinner after she was found not guilty. So, she was going into the trial pretty confident with her defense. Her lawyers argued that she was threatened by with the gun and her involvement was purely from being forced to comply.

 She was a victim, too, that was scared for her life. But, the prosecution’s case was that she wasn’t merely an innocent bystander. She had been involved in bringing Seth to the property. She knew about the messages from Amber, and she had every chance to help or get out. But, she stayed and remained involved way after the murder. The state said Charlie Ealy wasn’t a scared pawn.

 The only person that was scared was Seth Jackson. The jury took just an hour to return a verdict.  Charlie Ealy burst into tears after the verdict was read.  Guilty of murder in the first degree for her part in 15-year-old Seth Jackson’s murder.  Jury find as follows as to the defendant in this case. The defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree.

 Seth’s family sat on one side of the courtroom emotional after the verdict. Ealy’s family sat on the other side, also emotional. Her grandfather and the aunt who raised her in Maryland. Ealy’s grandfather, James, has been there from the start.  I had a hell of a lot, that’s what I say. Cuz they didn’t give a She’s just a kid.

 After an hour and a half, they came back with the guilty verdict. Ealy’s lawyer plans to appeal.  It’s tragedy. It’s tragedy for Seth Jackson. It’s tragedy for my client. No one won.  About 10 minutes after the verdict was read, Ealy returned to the courtroom wearing an orange and white jumpsuit, a sharp contrast to the gray pinstripe suit she had on prior.

 She sobbed as she walked away in handcuffs.  A year later, Amber and Kyle were put on trial together, but had two separate juries. Rhonda said that they had seen a big change in Kyle since his arrest. From the beginning, he was the only one that had shown remorse and frequently cried in court.

 The reality had well and truly set in, but it was just too late for him.  In handcuffs and shackles, 19-year-old Charlie Kay Ealy takes the stand in the murder trial of Kyle Hooper and his sister Amber Wright, but it’s in the absence of the two juries.  Ms. Ealy, you were present in the house on the day that Seth Jackson was killed?  I’d rather not answer that.

 At that time, did you hear Kyle Hooper before Seth Jackson was killed say, “Get out of the house”?  I’d like to remain silent.  Ealy took the fifth because her case is on appeal by her attorney. Kyle Hooper kept his head down during some of the assistant medical examiner’s testimony about Seth Jackson’s burned body parts and bone fragments.

 Cause of death is gunshot wound or wounds and blunt force trauma, and manner of death, homicide.  Another two verdicts were now in.  Teenage siblings Amber Wright and Kyle Hooper guilty of murder in the first degree.  Justin Soto had been facing the death penalty, so decided to change his plea to guilty, which spared another trial and a possible sentence of death.

Another year later still, and it was time for the ringleader Michael Bargo to have his time in court. The state were also seeking the death penalty against him, and this would make him the youngest person on Florida’s death row.  I go out there to hang out with everybody, too. I go out there. And when I go out there, you know, we hang out, you know, it’s kind of like passing a peace pipe, you know, just build that, you know, mend that fence.

We’re all hanging out. So, somebody, I think in a in a white minivan, somebody came and picked him up. Yeah, somebody came and picked him up. And that left, you know, that pretty much left me, Amber, me, Amber, Charlie, and Kyle. Well, they had some show that was coming on. I don’t some, you know, some girly Desperate Housewives type stuff, something I wouldn’t watch.

And you know, I told them, you know, I don’t I don’t watch this. We We ended up taking their TV and putting it in their room for them. You know, me and Kyle started hanging We didn’t hang out hung out in my room.  There were more than 6,000 pages of discovery documents in his case, including transcripts from someone who shared a cell with him.

 A corrections officer also said he overheard Michael tell another inmate, “There was only two witnesses that saw me shoot him.” Michael admitted to shooting Seth six times, but said that the killing wasn’t planned. Rhonda said he was as cocky, smug, and smirky as ever. He thought he was a star, some sort of local celebrity, and he really seemed to love sitting on the stand with an audience.

 I mean, I left. [clears throat] Now, I could have gone down to 107th, which would have taken me straight shot through, but I’m all beat up. I’m drunk. I’m high. You know, I’m I’m just I I don’t I look like hell, you know? And this is the same road that my my dad and my grandma live on, you know? And I don’t I’m I don’t want to go past their house and them be outside, you know, let the dogs use the bathroom.

They sit out there, you know, in the garage and watch the news and stuff. I don’t want to walk by and them see me walking by and and and you know, I’m all messed up, you know? Grandma your grandma would have a you know, a conniption if she did. It’s my understanding what had happened was she called to break up with him because he was abusive.

In fact, Tracy Wright was the one who told her she needed to break up with him. And she went and called him and broke up with him. Now, it somehow got around to that I that she was breaking up with him because she was sleeping with me and that was an accusation [clears throat] from him. And I’ve never slept with Amber.

 Okay. So, somehow again, you’re just a misunderstood victim in this whole thing.  Somehow I got dragged in the middle of that.  Which goes back to my earlier question. You are just a misunderstood victim in the case.  Question on a repetitive cast getting  Sustain. Let’s talk about another girlfriend that we haven’t talked about.

 How about Tessa Mcglam?  All right.  Okay. How old was Tessa when you were dating her?  15.  Try maybe 13, 14.  I don’t know.  How about the real reason that you moved into Charlie Ely’s house?  I I already told you the real reason I moved in. Now, there there were other things going on, but it it was already set that I was moving in there.

 Let’s talk about those other things that were going on. All right. You testified that you moved into Charlie Ely’s house because she said to you, “Hey, I need rent money. You want to move in?”  I was going to help her with rent, yeah.  But the real reason you moved in there is because Tessa’s father found out you two had slept together and he said he was going to call the police.

 See? There’s not a problem with that. I never slept with her and she knows I didn’t. You want me to go into this? I I  Sure.  Can I, please? What had happened was me and her had dated. I cared about this girl deeply. I’m not going to say I didn’t. She got drunk and told her aunt that she slept with me. Which was a lie.

 Which she knows was a lie. Her and her mom we know it was a lie. Yes, I cared about her, but I never took it that far. I never went I never slept with her.  In the state of Florida versus Michael Shane Bargo, verdict as to count one, we the jury find as follows, as to the defendant in this case, the defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree with a firearm as charged in the indictment.

 So say we all, dated this 20th day of August, 2015.  Another verdict of guilty rang through the courtroom, and it was now onto the sentencing phases.    Life behind bars for a local teen convicted for her part in a gruesome murder.  It is the judgment of the law and the sentence of the court that you spend the remainder of your natural life confined in the Florida Department of Corrections.

 Late-breaking, two teenage siblings will spend the rest of their lives in prison.  It is the judgment of the law and the sentence of the court that for the premeditated murder of Seth Jackson, you, Michael Shane Bargo, are sentenced to death.  Charlie, Justin, Kyle, and Amber were all sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.

Kyle tearfully addressed Seth’s family in court.  I uh I don’t know how it how it feels for to have your son to be lost. I I don’t But uh and I could only imagine how uh how hard it could be for you. And I I and I know if it was me, I I know how my how my family would feel. And I and I know I know it may not help bring him back in any in any way.

But I I I am sorry for what I have done.  Michael Bargo was sentenced to death and did in fact become the youngest person to walk on death row at the time. He has appealed twice over the years, but these have been rejected and as of the writing of this episode, he remains on death row with no execution date set.

In a letter to his family, he said, “I’m sorry for everything. I really do wish that I could have a second chance. It kills me knowing that I’m putting you all through this. I just wish that this was all one big nightmare and just woke up finally. It’s kind of weird. Now that I’m here, my head is clear.

 I’m sober and my dreams get more vivid as the days go by. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up at night and tried walking out the door like it was my bedroom door. I really feel like I’m losing my mind. The reality is slowly slipping away.”    It is one of the most infamous crimes in Marion County history and in just hours opening statements will begin in the retrial of one of the teens right at the center of this investigation.

 According to the Ocala Star-Banner, lawyers in the Amber Wright trial agreed on a field of eight jurors yesterday. Wright is facing charges in the 2011 death of her ex-boyfriend Seth Jackson. Prosecutors say that  Amber, who was now 19, was granted a retrial after the courts deemed her taped confession inadmissible because of the way police read her Miranda rights.

However, the evidence against her was just as compelling and she was found guilty for a second time. However, this time she was sentenced to life in prison, but with the possibility of parole after 25 years, meaning if it all goes this way, she could potentially be released in her mid-40s. The judge said, “I have not seen or heard anything more despicable than what led to Seth Jackson’s death.

 I cannot imagine a circumstance worse, and I pray to God that the reason behind all this is some chemical imbalance or a brain that hasn’t matured. It’s really hard to deal with the notion that such evil can exist without an explanation.” Sonya, Seth’s mom, said, “It doesn’t take a fully developed mind to understand right from wrong.

 A 2-year-old learns that hurting others is not acceptable in our society.”  The hours before any action was taken proves the kind of person they really are. They had plenty of time to think about what was going to happen. The thoughts running through their minds should have raised red flags. They say their minds are not fully developed at this age.

This was no accident. This was a planned murder that they all agreed to, talked about, and thought about. They even took steps to prepare for it. Seth and Kyle were friends at one time. Kyle even spent time in our home.  Amber Wright also took part in the show Killer Women with Piers Morgan. Here, she finally admitted that she knew what she was doing when she texted Seth that day.

She knew exactly what was going to play out.  But you knew that he was going to be burned because you were heard talking about lighting the fire.  Yes, I knew there was going to be a fire. I knew he was going to be burned. I didn’t know they were going to drop him over a cliff.  Why did Seth    have to die?  I don’t know.

There was no reason. I don’t have a reason. I just went along.  It seems to be some doubt as to whether you and Mike had a sexual relationship. What’s the truth?  Me and Mike did not have a relationship. Yes, we did have sex a couple times. And I think that was more on my part trying to aggravate and hurt Seth.

 So, you were deliberately having sex with a guy that you knew he hated just to aggravate him.  I mean, yeah.  There are a few moments where even though Amber is saying all the right things, as she’s talking, there are flickers of a smile.  Unforgiveness I don’t do that anymore. So, I’m not evil. I’m not.

 When you think back to what went on in that trailer that that afternoon, what what do you feel?  Honestly, empty. After he died and I cleaned up I was no longer partaking in anything. So, after that it’s like he disappeared.  Amber’s brother, Kyle, sentence was also overturned and he was given a retrial in 2016.

 He too was given another life sentence but with the possibility of parole after 25 years. James Haven, who was charged as an accessory after the fact, was found incompetent to stand trial. And 7 years after the murder, he finally changed his plea to guilty and was facing up to 30 years. A couple of sources say he eventually got 10 years, but there is actually no verified final prison sentence that we have been able to find.

Definitely let us know in the comments if you do. We move forward now to 2020. And after serving 9 years at Lowell Correctional Institution for Women  Charlie Ely was originally supposed to spend the rest of her life in prison, but earlier this year a federal judge threw out her murder conviction saying she did not receive a fair trial.

 Now Elee is getting out.  Can you tell me your full name, please?  Charley K. Elee.  Charley Elee has spent nearly 10 years in prison for murder, but today while appearing in court by video conference, Elee entered into a new plea agreement that will allow her to walk free.  She had a new lawyer, a very prominent one, called Jose Baez, who has represented high-profile clients such as Casey Anthony, Aaron Hernandez, and Harvey Weinstein to name a few.

 He had filed an appeal arguing that her original attorney made several mistakes that deprived her of a constitutional right to a fair trial. So even though she was serving a life sentence, a federal judge vacated her original conviction. Charley then pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder, and this spared her from being put on trial again.

 She was then resentenced to 10 years in prison, but since she had already spent more than in custody, she was released. Her lawyer Jose Baez said, “It’s a bittersweet day. I’ve been fighting for her for 8 years. I’m really happy that she’s getting out, but she’s forever scarred. This was a plea of convenience. She maintains her innocence and the facts show she’s innocent.

 Charley is happy to be going home, but at the same time there’s really nothing to celebrate. She feels terrible for the Jackson family. This case is a perfect example of be careful with who you hang around with. Charley was mixed up with the wrong group of people. Her crime was being present at the scene. She is just a victim of being present.

 She had no role in the murder, no role in the cleanup, no role in this whatsoever.” Seth’s dad Scott said how he wanted to deal with the situation and those involved. That was just a no-go. The way he wants would send him to prison, but he’s become very good at pushing his feelings down. He said he hasn’t gone off at anybody in years and he takes that as a big win.

Rhonda Street remains a very big part of the Jackson family’s life and she said someday Sonya would call her and say, “I don’t think I’m going to make it.” So, they would make a coffee and sit talking for hours until she feels calmer. The murder of Seth Tyler Jackson remains one of the most shocking and infamous to ever happen in Marion County and is remembered not just by those closest to Seth, but by the far and wide communities and the investigating teams.

There are cases that are difficult to grasp because of how senseless they are. And then there are cases like Seth Jackson’s where the cruelty, betrayal, depravity go so far that it becomes almost impossible to comprehend. Especially when you remember that everyone was as young as they were. And at the end of it all, nothing but petty high school drama and jealousy became the sole reason a 15-year-old boy’s life was taken and his family will forever have to remember him that way instead of seeing him grow up and become

everything they hoped he would be.    Thank you all for tuning in. If you would like to support our channel and help us to continue to make our content, we have a Patreon with many perks including exclusive episodes, behind the scenes, and ad-free early access.