16 Year Old Justin Jackson was Kidnapped, Robbed and Brutally Murdered

Flagstaff, Arizona is a seemingly quiet town. The crime rate is extremely low, only 535 cases of violent crime were recorded in 2002. I always said it was the Florida of the West Coast, where the old people would go to retire. Lush with mountains, Ponderosa Pine trees and college kids, cute (but very big) houses are settled cozily in little neighborhoods, on hills and in the mountains. No one in this quiet, yet busy town ever thought something this brutal would happen.

Micah Neumann, 18, spent most of July 9 trying to sell marijuana in the Sunnyside district of Flagstaff. According to Neumann, Justin Jackson had found him, beat him up, stole his money pouch, cell phone and the marijuana he was trying to sell. Reports claim that this tiff was due to Neumann trespassing on Justin's drug dealing territory, in Justin's eyes.

Justin Jackson, 16, was with his girlfriend on the afternoon, around 4 PM, of July 10. She and Justin drove to her work-place, an office complex off of Woodlands Village Blvd., and she went in and told Jackson to wait in the car. She returned about a half an hour later, and Justin was gone. Her vehicle was still running, the door was left open and her stereo had been turned up almost all the way. This brought on a lot of worry and paranoia on her end. Justin had told her that he had been in a fight the night before and had received a message saying, "I'm going to kill you, mark my words, I'm going to kill you."

Micah had notified his drug dealer, Jesse Collier, that he was beaten and robbed by Justin Jackson. According to an anonymous witness of the fight and the early morning of July 10, Collier drove to meet Micah at his house and had given him a pellet gun. Micah had made many threats to get Justin back for what he had done. Jesse Collier, 18, was in possession of a fully loaded handgun, as well. This witness last saw Justin alive and breathing at almost 2 PM on July 10.

Micah Neumann turned himself in on July 11. He had stated that the day before, around 4 PM when Justin was with his girlfriend, he, Jesse Collier and Ben Hamilton had planned to arrange a drug deal with Jackson, and that they were really planning to rob him as some sort of revenge for the fight. Micah told the police that in order to successfully rob Justin Jackson, he had hid under blankets in an SUV owned by Jesse Collier, and once Justin had gotten into the car, they had driven to a remote and wooded location on Woody Mountain Road.

Jackson was reportedly on probation and house arrest, and shouldn't have been able to leave his home at all. Micah told police that Ben Hamilton aka "Hammy", 18, had ordered Justin to get out of Collier's SUV at gunpoint. Micah, Ben and Jesse followed Justin outside and began yelling at him and ordering him to lay on the ground on his belly. Without another word, Hamilton had pulled the trigger. He had shot Justin Jackson in the back of the head, once, execution style.

Micah claimed he had rolled Justin's barely-alive body on his back and they left the scene. Quite stupidly, they realized they hadn't taken Micah's stuff back, so they returned to the scene, rummaged through Justin's pockets and took $200. Police reported that Justin had an extra $1,080 hidden in his pants that they hadn't taken. Micah told police that Collier had been wearing a bullet-proof vest on the night of the murder.

The crime scene detectives had found a bullet slug and casing near the body that matched the caliber of the gun that Collier owned. After the deed was done, they had driven back to the house that Collier shared with Hamilton. Micah had bought some marijuana. He had used a lot of drugs.
and told a lot of people about what had happened, reportedly.

A young Flagstaff man found Justin's body. Police claim that Justin had died not too long before he got there. The man who had found the body panicked and decided to call 2 of his friends before contacting police. After these friends arrived, they all agreed that it would be best to call the police. The young man called the police anonymously from a pay-phone on the corner of Woody Mountain Road and West Route 66. He became worried when the dispatcher started asking questions, hung up and went home. The 2 friends decided to stay there and wait for the police to arrive and show them where Justin's body was located.

Micah Neumann, Benjamin Hamilton and Jesse Collier were accused of killing Justin Jackson and kidnapping him under the pretense of dealing drugs. The seven search warrants connected to this case were opened on Friday evening by a Superior Court judge.

After searching several homes and vehicles across Flagstaff, police had seized multiple weapons, ammunition, explosive material, drugs and drug paraphernalia.

The new week hadn't even started, and the three teens were in custody. All three of these boys have been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery and possession of drug paraphernalia. Ben Hamilton and Jesse Collier have also been charged with possession of marijuana for sale.

Micah, Ben and Jesse are all expected to plead innocent to these charges.

The police have also seized edgers, computers and personal items from the homes. The bullet-proof vest that Jesse had worn the night of the murder was also seized.

Upon searching Jesse Collier's vehicle, the police had found almost $700 cash, marijuana, scales, baggies, and even more weapons. Justin Jackson's home was searched as well, but those details have not yet been released.

The young man who found Justin's body has not been arrested or criminally charged, and he shouldn't be. I know he had nothing to do with it.

SOURCES:
AZ Family, 3 Teen Murder Suspects Held On $1 Million Bond.
Larry Hendricks, Inside the Kidnapping, Robbing and and Killing of Justin Jackson, AZ Daily Sun.