Prosecutor seeks death penalty for 8 charged with kidnapping and killing an Alabama woman

By The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the eight people charged in the kidnapping, assault and killing of a 20-year-old mother.

Jefferson County deputy district attorney Charissa Henrich filed notice with the court on Friday that she would seek the death penalty if any of the suspects are convicted of capital murder. Henrich characterized the case as “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel compared to other capital offenses.”

Mahogany Jackson sent a text to her family in the early morning of Feb. 25 that shared her location and said that she had been kidnapped, according to Scott Thurmond, the police chief at the time. The location appeared to show that she was at the residence of someone she knew. The next day, law enforcement found her body on a street in southwest Birmingham. She died from a gunshot wound.

Birmingham homicide detective Mark Green testified that videos taken by the suspects themselves and submitted by an unnamed witness show that Jackson was kidnapped and physically and sexually assaulted before three of the suspects drove her to where she was shot and left on a street, AL.com reported.

“This is undoubtedly one of the most heinous acts I’ve seen in my career. It’s absolutely disgusting,” Thurmond said at the time.

A public defender representing at least one of the suspects has filed a motion to bar the death penalty if the jury verdict is not unanimous.

All eight suspects were being held without bond and were set to be arraigned Monday on capital murder charges. At least one of the suspects pleaded not guilty, his attorney, Glennon Threatt, said. Attorneys for the others didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Five of the suspects were initially charged with felony murder, but a grand jury in September upgraded the charges to capital murder.