Teen admits to murdering Blackfoot mother in her home after she refused to give him a ride
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BLACKFOOT — A 16-year-old has accepted a plea agreement and agreed to admit to the second-degree murder of a Blackfoot mother.
On Jan. 29, Bobby Grant Jackson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing Rebecca Rivera, 30, the mother of a 10-year-old daughter, in Blackfoot on October 23.
Jackson agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for the state recommending no more than 27 years fixed at sentencing. Jackson’s attorney, Jordan Crane, will be recommending no less than 20 years fixed.
The Idaho Juvenile Corrections Act states that a person 14 years of age or older charged with a serious felony offense is immediately treated as an adult.
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The court has agreed to impose a fixed sentence term of no less than 20 years fixed and no greater than 27 years fixed, which is the only portion of the sentence that is intended to be binding, meaning the court cannot change this at sentencing.
All other terms of the plea agreement will be free to argue in court.
Jackson was initially charged with first-degree murder, which includes premeditation of the crime, but under the plea agreement, he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder, which does not insinuate that he premeditated the murder.
Jackson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4 at 9 a.m.
Background
On Oct. 23, Blackfoot Police officers responded to a report of a stolen gun at State Hospital South.
The reporting party stated that a newer employee of a subcontractor (working on a remodeling project at the hospital), identified as Jackson, had asked him to use the restroom, but he had been gone for a long time. The man went to his work truck to look for Jackson, and noticed that his handgun had been stolen from his lunchbox in the truck.
Officers went to a halfway home on North Shilling Avenue, where Jackson was living, and spoke with an employee who said that he had Jackson’s location on his phone, showing that he was at a gas station on 985 South Broadway Street. Officers later found security footage showing Jackson at this gas station.
At the hospital, officers found security footage reportedly showing Jackson getting into the work truck, going to the backseat, and grabbing something out of it.
Officers discovered Jackson was on probation out of Twin Falls for “pointing a fake gun at someone’s head to steal,” which was why he was living at a halfway house in Blackfoot.
Around 4 p.m., officers were called to a report of a death at a trailer home near 1159 South Broadway Street.
Officers say they found a woman, identified as Rivera, deceased in the back room of the trailer home with a gunshot wound to her head. A shell casing was on the bed, but no gun was in view. Detectives arrived and spoke to Rivera’s family, who said they walked over to her home after her daughter called and said her mother had not picked her up from school.
The family then found Rivera’s body.
Officers spoke to a neighbor, who said Jackson had been in front of his home earlier in the day, asking for a ride to Pocatello. Officers and detectives discovered that security cameras at the trailer park, Bower’s Collision and the gas station had recorded him at each place.
Detectives also followed up with the original reporting party, who confirmed that Rivera had been shot with the same type of bullets that were in the gun that Jackson had stolen.
According to a news release from the Blackfoot Police Department, police learned Jackson had walked away from the trailer park, quickly leaving Blackfoot and traveling to Chubbuck. It is not clear how he got there.
Jackson was later found at a home in Pocatello and taken into custody without incident. According to police reports, detectives interviewed Jackson the next morning, where he reportedly “admitted that he killed Rebecca Rivera.”
Court documents say he “made contact with Rivera, and after Rivera denied providing him with a ride, Bobby stated that he had a gun and ‘f*** it’.” He then reportedly told detectives that he “recognized Rivera and believed her brothers had killed his friend.”
When asked by detectives if he intended to kill Rivera as payback, he allegedly confirmed he did and said, “I put a bullet in her brain.”
Who was Rebecca Rivera?
According to Rivera’s obituary, she was a “a beloved daughter, mother and most of all a friend.”
“She was a hardworking and devoted mother. She enjoyed going shopping for everyone, swimming and spending time with her family. Her love language was gift giving and spending time with the people she loved most,” says her obituary. “She was so happy. She felt she was on the right path for her and her daughter. She’s very loved. She was a member of the Catholic Church.”
Rivera’s family was surprised by a Secret Santa in December. Watch the video here.
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