ARLINGTON, Texas — Nearly five years after the shooting death of an Arlington teen, police have named a suspect in the case.
On Dec. 10, 2014, police received a call that a male with a gunshot wound arrived at the ER. When officers arrived at the hospital, there were actually two wounded men.
One of the victims was 19-year-old Michael Jackson, Jr. He was later taken to a different hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
After years of investigating Jackson's death, authorities have now named 24-year-old Daequayvios Marquis Hill as the shooter.
Hill was charged with the crime while behind bars for an unrelated incident.
The night of the shooting
According to an arrest warrant, three young men, including Jackson, went to pick up food the night of Dec. 10, 2014.
They were on Mule Deer Drive when they approached a gold Ford Taurus Sedan, which was stopped on the road.
The driver of the car carrying Jackson told detectives he couldn’t get around the Taurus, so he honked his horn, the warrant states. But the driver of the Taurus blocked their car from getting around.
As the driver continued to try to maneuver around the sedan, the driver of the Taurus continued to purposely block them, according to the warrant.
Eventually, the Taurus turned onto a different street. But at some point, they found themselves once again behind the Ford Taurus on MacGregor Drive.
That's when the driver of the Ford Taurus pulled over to the side of the road and shot at the car carrying Jackson and his two friends as they drove by near the 1000 block of Tabasco Trail, the warrant says.
The driver and Jackson were both struck. The driver survived. Jackson didn't.
Stolen gun, text messages, and a Facebook post
Almost a month after the shooting, detectives were investigating a burglary that occurred at a retired police officer's house near the 1005 block of Tabasco Trail the day before the road rage shooting.
Police arrested Hill and three people who were in a white Lincoln in connection to the burglary, the warrant states.
During a search of the vehicle, detectives found a cellphone with a case that had a driver's license in it with the name Desire Hadnot. It was later discovered that Hadnot was Hill’s girlfriend, the warrant says.
Police were able to go through the cellphone after obtaining a search warrant a few weeks later. That's when they found text messages between Hill and Hadnot that allegedly discussed his involvement in Jackson's death, according to officials.
According to the arrest warrant, Hill asked Hadnot if she had watched the news in one of the messages. Later in their conversation, Hadnot told Hill to take down a photo of a gun on his Facebook page.
The day before Jackson's death, police say, Hill had uploaded a photo of a handgun. The photo had a caption saying, ‘New edition to the family ... nupid [sic] gone keep a tool better ask somebody," according to the warrant.
Police believe this is the same gun Hill and Hadnot discussed in their text messages, the warrant states.
Detectives later found out the gun belonged to a retired Arlington police officer. They believe it was stolen from the officer's house during the Dec. 9 burglary, according to the arrest warrant.
Authorities said based on the content and timing of the text messages, they believed Hill is the suspect in Jackson’s murder, the warrant states.
Police were able to interview Hadnot at her Dallas apartment in February of 2012. During the interview, she told officers that Hill was her boyfriend and that she was "always with him when he’s not incarcerated," according to the warrant.
When asked about the text messages, she told detectives they didn’t mean anything and ended the interview.
Later that summer, detectives executed a search warrant to seize jail letters between Hill and Hadnot. In one of the letters, Hadnot told Hill that detectives interviewed her about the text messages, the warrant said.
A month later on Aug. 22, 2015, a detective interviewed Hill at the city of Arlington jail. Hill agreed to talk to the detective about the investigation into Jackson’s murder, the warrant states.
During the interview, Hill acknowledged he did at some point have the gun in his possession but sold it for $200, the warrant alleges. However, he told detectives there wasn't proof he was part of the burglary.
He also denied he was part of Jackson's death.
The tip that helped solve the cold case
On Aug. 9, 2019, an officer received a tip from a “credible and reliable” source that Hill confessed to killing Jackson to another prisoner in 2016 while serving a 10-year sentence for an unrelated crime.
Detectives were able to make contact with the prisoner, who had since been released.
In an interview with detectives earlier this week, the informant told detectives Hill told him he was in jail on a robbery charge. He said Hill then confessed to shooting at a car in a case he believed would remain unsolved, the warrant says.
The person then told officials, during their time locked up, Hill was confronted by another inmate. The inmate asked Hill if he killed his friend (referring to Jackson) but Hill told him he didn't, the warrant states.
But the informant said when the inmate walked away, Hill told him, "That n***** I shot, that's his homeboy."
On Thursday, detectives spoke with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and issued an arrest warrant. Authorities plan to charge Hill with the murder of Jackson while he’s still custody.
