Six suspects in the brutal kidnapping, torture and murder of a young Alabama woman appeared in court Wednesday for preliminary hearings.
Mahogany Jackson, 20, was found dead on a dead-end road in Birmingham on Feb. 26 around 2 a.m., according to police.
In the ensuing days, authorities arrested and charged eight people with her murder: Si’niya McCall, 23; Jeremiah McDowell, 18; Brandon Pope, 24; Blair Green, 25; Francis Harris, 25; Teja Lewis, 25; Giovonnie Clapp, 23; and Airana Robinson, 23.
Green and McCall were the only two not in court on Wednesday, local Fox affiliate WBRC reported. All eight suspects have been jailed without bail.
Authorities laid out their case against the eight suspects at their bond hearing last week, saying Jackson texted her mother on the morning of Feb. 25 that she had been kidnapped.
“Send the police apt 3 held hostage don’t call,” the message read in part, directing her family to an apartment complex. However, when officers and relatives arrived at the location, Jackson was not there.
Jackson’s captors stripped her naked, beat her and threw her in the trunk of a car, police said. The attackers filmed parts of the assault, according to cops.
The kidnappers then took Jackson to an apartment, where they held her at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her, authorities said. Videos showed Jackson naked and handcuffed while the attackers slapped her, spit on her and pistol-whipped her.
Some of the videos were posted to social media, and police said they helped lead to several arrests.
“This is undoubtedly one of the most heinous acts I’ve seen in my career. It’s absolutely disgusting,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said at a Feb. 28 press conference.
After the torture, one of the kidnappers killed Jackson with a gunshot to the back of the head, according to police. Investigators identified the shooter as Francis Harris.
Jackson’s body was found about 2 miles from where she told her family she was being held.
