The Murder of Seath Jackson

Seath Tyler Jackson, the third and youngest son of Scott and Sonia Jackson, was born on February 3, 1996. Growing up in the tranquil town of Summerfield, Florida, Seath's life took a devastating turn that ultimately led to his untimely demise.

At the age of 14, Seath Jackson met a girl named Amber Wright, and they developed a close bond. Their relationship appeared normal to those around them. Jackson expressed deep love for Wright and wished to be with her indefinitely. Sadly, their romance ended abruptly after only three months. Jackson struggled to cope with the breakup and, despite his parents' efforts, he desperately longed to reconcile with Wright.

During that period, the friends and family of Seath Jackson were unaware of the turbulent nature of his relationship with Amber Wright, which involved drug use and accusations of infidelity. In later interviews, Wright revealed that she and Jackson regularly smoked marijuana and even experimented with cocaine. They also engaged in manipulative behavior to provoke jealousy, creating a toxic dynamic between them. The breaking point came when Jackson discovered that Wright had been intimate with Michael Bargo, an 18-year-old, while they were still in a relationship.

For almost a month following their breakup, Jackson and Wright engaged in a public dispute on social media, where they posted derogatory comments and insults about each other. During this period, Wright asserts that she and Bargo started dating. However, Bargo denies these allegations. In April 2011, Bargo and Wright were hanging out at a friend’s house when Bargo said, 

“We need to kill Seath Jackson. Nobody likes him, we need to kill him.”

According to Wright, initially, everyone in the house thought Bargo was joking, but it soon became evident that he was serious. After some discussions, the group reached a consensus, and a sinister plan was devised.

The friends decided that Wright would entice Jackson to Charlie Ely's trailer, where they would physically assault him and eventually shoot him. On the evening of April 17, 2011, around 8 p.m., they put their plan into action. Wright sent a text message to Jackson, asking him to meet her at Ely's trailer. However, Jackson had a sense that something wasn't right. He texted Wright, expressing that he wouldn't show up if there was a possibility of an ambush. After receiving reassurance, Jackson reluctantly agreed to meet with Wright.

At first, the group had agreed on a plan: Justin Soto would strike Jackson on the head when he entered the trailer, followed by Kyle Hooper attacking him, and then Bargo shooting Jackson. However, their plan unraveled as soon as Jackson entered the trailer. Soto found himself unable to hit the 15-year-old. In a change of events, Hooper ended up assaulting Jackson, stating that he was involved because Jackson had threatened to set his house on fire.

When Jackson realized the danger he was in, he tried to escape, but Bargo shot him twice in the back. Despite being wounded, Jackson kept running until he reached the road outside the trailer. However, Soto tackled him to the ground. Bargo then shot Jackson in the back of the head, but he miraculously survived. Jackson was dragged back into the trailer and placed in the bathtub to control the bleeding. Bargo made the decision to keep Jackson alive so that he could reveal the identities of those involved in the attack.

After putting Jackson in the bathtub, Soto and Hooper started cleaning up the blood in the trailer. Meanwhile, Bargo entered the bathroom and continued to physically assault Jackson, shouting at him throughout. However, Bargo eventually realized that despite the brutal beatings, Jackson was still alive. In the final act, Bargo shot Jackson, instantly ending his life.

After shooting Jackson, Bargo used pliers to extract his teeth before concealing his body inside a sleeping bag. The group then transported Jackson's body to the backyard, where a bonfire had been lit. They placed his body into the fire and proceeded to spend the night drinking and partying while Jackson's remains burned.

The next morning, the group realized they needed to get rid of Jackson's ashes to avoid detection. They gathered his remains and placed them in paint buckets. They then drove to a nearby quarry and disposed of the ashes by throwing them over the cliff.

Sonia, Jackson's mother, grew increasingly worried when she hadn't heard from her son all night. It was unusual for him not to keep in touch and inform his parents of his whereabouts or if he wouldn't be coming home. Concerned, Sonia contacted the police and filed a missing person report for her son.

The next day, news of Jackson's disappearance was widely reported. Hooper, who was at home with his mother, saw the news coverage and mentioned to his mother that he knew Jackson was dead and had information about the missing teenager. Concerned by this revelation, Hooper's mother contacted the police and took her children to the police station.

During police questioning, both Wright and Hooper provided similar accounts, but their stories were far from the truth. They falsely claimed that Jackson had come to Ely's trailer uninvited to talk to Wright. Hooper admitted to shooting Jackson without anyone else knowing about his plan, citing his disapproval of the situation.

The police subsequently brought in Charlie Ely for questioning. She provided the same narrative as Wright and Hooper, stating that she believed Hooper only intended to frighten Jackson and had no knowledge of his intentions to kill him. Despite the three teenagers sharing similar stories, the police felt something was amiss. As a result, they placed the three of them alone in a room without realizing that their conversation was being recorded. Hooper spoke up first, saying...

“We didn’t kill an innocent kid because this kid was not innocent. He threatened to burn my house and kill my family. And he deserved it.”

This was enough for the police to arrest the three teenagers for premeditated murder. When arrested, all Wright had to say was,

“I’ll be fucking 20 by the time I get out.”

The police successfully apprehended three out of the five suspects, and their next objective was to locate Michael Bargo. Bargo had disappeared following the murder but was eventually found at a friend's house, approximately 40 miles away. When brought in for questioning, Bargo claimed to be unaware of the reason for the police's interest and requested the presence of an attorney.

As the police investigation concluded, all five teenagers were arrested and faced charges of first-degree murder. Despite some of them being minors at the time, they were treated as adults during the legal proceedings.

Justin Soto chose to plead guilty to first-degree murder in order to avoid a trial, resulting in a life sentence in prison. The other teenagers entered pleas of not guilty. During the trials, the prosecution argued that while Bargo physically carried out the killing, all the teenagers were aware of the plan. They emphasized that if Wright had not texted Jackson and lured him, he might still be alive today.

Michael Bargo became Florida's youngest inmate on death row

Amber Wright was found guilty of first-degree murder and received a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2016, she had a retrial, which resulted in another life sentence. Her sentence will be eligible for review in 2056.

Wright's brother, Kyle Hooper, was also convicted of first-degree murder and received a life sentence in prison without parole.

Charlie Ely, who was originally convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, was recently released in 2020 after a successful appeal resulted in a reduction of her sentence.

Michael Bargo, on the other hand, was found guilty of first-degree murder and received one of the harshest penalties: a death sentence. Bargo became one of the youngest prisoners ever sentenced to death.

Recent Updates

As of 2023, Michael Bargo is serving his sentence at Union Correctional Institution. His appeal, where he argued that the judge didn't properly consider his mental health conditions as factors to lessen his sentence, was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court. Bargo's death sentence was upheld, and he remains on death row awaiting execution.

Read next: MIRIAM RODRÍGUEZ: HOW SHE TOOK DOWN HER DAUGHTER’S CARTEL KILLERS

Rodríguez studied her suspect’s habits, she memorized their addresses, researched their friends and stalked their lovers. It didn’t matter how high the stakes were, she dyed her hair, masqueraded as an election official, and exploited unknowing family members for information. She was a one-woman private investigation squad hunting down her daughter’s kidnappers and killers across Mexico. In three years, she single-handedly tracked down 10 men who were involved in her daughter’s torture and death.