Suspect Arrested For Murdering 18-Year-Old With Hatchet
BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ)—A Baltimore County man is accused of killing a teenager with a hatchet and hiding his body in the woods. U.S. Marshals tracked the suspect down in Alabama.
Mike Hellgren has details of this wide-ranging investigation.
Ryan Jackson, 18, was found stabbed to death with a hatchet. His body was dumped in an industrial area in Baltimore. Now, police have arrested Larry Horton, 37, from Lansdowne and charged him with first-degree murder.
Police tracked down Horton more than 1,000 miles away at a motel in Bayou La Batre, Ala.
"There's no telling what went through that guy's mind at the time, but it will all come out," said Reginald Jackson, victim's father.
Ryan Jackson's girlfriend Jasmine Mills is due to give birth to their first son in just nine days.
"It's not going to bring him back," Mills said while crying. "Everyone is worried about finding who did it, but I don't really care because all I want is him to come home."
The ordeal has also devastated Ryan Jackson's aunt.
"I just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for finding him," she said. "I don't have any children, but he felt as though he was mine."
In the Lansdowne home where police believe Jackson was killed, they found blood and evidence that Horton tried to clean the carpets.
"Homicide investigators became interested in Mr. Horton relatively early in this investigation. As I said, he was part of a group that the victim knew in that Rambo Court area," said Elise Armacost, Baltimore County Police.
More than 100 people came to Jackson's memorial. His family is now planning his funeral.
Ryan Jackson and his girlfriend were childhood sweethearts. She plans to name their baby after his dad.
"No one is perfect, but he was perfect for me," Mills said.
Horton will be brought back to Maryland to face charges.
"Until he's actually convicted and being sentenced, that's when I may have the closure that I'm looking for," said Reginald Jackson.
The victim's aunt agrees.
"We're going to get some closure, but we need more," she said.
Police tell WJZ they did recover bottles of bleach, carpet cleaning equipment and the hatchet they believed was used as the murder weapon.
Jackson's funeral will be held Friday morning in Pasadena. His father says it will be a closed casket ceremony.
