Michael Bargo Case: Resentencing, Co-Defendants, and Death Row Status

The Michael Bargo case is the Florida capital prosecution arising from the April 2011 murder of 15-year-old Seath Jackson in Summerfield, Marion County. Bargo, then 18, planned the killing, lured the victim through his girlfriend, shot him, and directed the disposal of the body. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013, had his first death sentence vacated in 2017, was resentenced to death by a unanimous jury, and remains on Florida’s death row after the state Supreme Court upheld that sentence in 2021.¹

What Happened to Seath Jackson

On April 17, 2011, Seath Jackson was lured to the Summerfield home of co-defendant Charlie Ely. Bargo directed his then-girlfriend, Amber Wright, to tell Jackson she wanted to reconcile. Wright and Jackson, both around 15, had dated until a breakup the month before; Wright had since started seeing Bargo. Jackson texted her that night that he suspected a trap, writing, “Amber if you have me jumpt I will never give you the time of day.” She told him he was safe.²

When Jackson walked in, co-defendant Kyle Hooper hit him over the head with a wooden object. Bargo then shot him with a .22 caliber Heritage revolver. Jackson made it outside before co-defendant Justin Soto tackled him and dragged him back in. Bargo kept beating and shooting him, eventually putting him in a bathtub. According to statements Bargo later made to a girlfriend and to fellow inmates, he shot Jackson multiple times, including twice in the face.²

The group burned the body in a backyard fire pit. It did not burn completely. Bargo reportedly used pliers to pull teeth from the skull. The remains were packed into three five-gallon paint buckets, and the next day co-defendant James Havens drove Bargo and Soto to a limerock quarry near Ocala, where the buckets were dumped into a pond. Investigators began collecting evidence from the house and the quarry within two days.³

Why Bargo Was Singled Out for Death

Courts consistently identified Bargo as the ringleader. He planned the killing, supplied the gun, directed the attack, fired the shots, and organized the disposal of the body. About a week before the murder, Jackson’s mother, Sonia Jackson, heard Bargo tell her son he had “a bullet with his name on it.” Hooper, Wright’s half-brother, had his own grudge after finding Jackson in bed with a girl he liked and had texted that he was “going to kill” Jackson.² Prosecutors described the killing as cold, calculated, and premeditated, driven by a fight over a girl.⁴

Two of his co-defendants, Wright and Hooper, were juveniles at the time and ineligible for the death penalty under Florida law. The others took pleas or received life sentences.⁵

The First Death Sentence and Why It Was Vacated

A Marion County jury found Bargo guilty of first-degree murder with a firearm in August 2013. The jury recommended death by a 10-to-2 vote, and the trial court imposed the sentence. It found two aggravating factors, each given great weight: the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, and it was cold, calculated, and premeditated. Against those, the court weighed Bargo’s age of 18 and extreme mental or emotional disturbance as statutory mitigators, giving each slight weight, along with 50 nonstatutory mitigators that received no more than moderate weight.⁶

After the recommendation, Sonia Jackson told reporters, “We finally got justice for our son.” She said Bargo “made his choice when he took Seath’s life.”⁷

On June 29, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the murder conviction but vacated the death sentence and ordered a new penalty phase. The problem was the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Hurst v. Florida, which held that a jury, not a judge, must find every fact necessary to impose death. Florida’s follow-up ruling in Hurst v. State required that a jury’s death recommendation be unanimous. Bargo’s 10-to-2 vote could not stand.⁶

The 2021 Resentencing

At the new penalty phase, the defense built its case around mental health. Clinical psychologist Hyman Eisenstein testified that Bargo had been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder, and pointed to a family history of mental illness and a chaotic upbringing.⁸ Other defense experts said a PET brain scan showed signs of a seizure spectrum disorder and that Bargo had the emotional maturity of a 14- or 15-year-old.⁹

The state pushed back with its own experts. Dr. Greg Prichard testified that Bargo’s primary condition was Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a behavioral rather than neurochemical diagnosis. Drs. Steven Nelson and Geoffrey Negin testified that the brain scan results were “incompatible with epilepsy.” The trial court found the state’s experts more credible and noted that the defense psychologist showed a “lack of knowledge as to the details of the crime.” The court also rejected the claim that Bargo’s capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct was substantially impaired, pointing to the planning of the murder and the calculated steps he took afterward to dispose of the body and flee.⁹

The new jury unanimously found both aggravating factors proven beyond a reasonable doubt, concluded they outweighed the mitigation, and unanimously recommended death. The circuit court found 21 mitigating circumstances but gave them only slight to moderate weight, and reimposed the death sentence.⁵

Bargo appealed again, challenging notice of aggravating factors, the application of the heinous-atrocious-or-cruel aggravator, and the weight given to mental health mitigation. On June 24, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court rejected each argument and upheld the sentence 6 to 1. Justice Jorge Labarga was the lone dissenter, arguing the court should conduct a “comparative proportionality review” of the sentence, a safeguard the court had eliminated the year before in Lawrence v. State.¹

The Co-Defendants

Four other people were charged in Seath Jackson’s murder, and none received the death penalty.

Justin Soto, 21 at the time, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in May 2012 and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.¹⁰
Amber Wright, 15 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 and sentenced to life. She won a retrial over a Miranda issue and was again found guilty of first-degree murder in January 2016.¹¹
Kyle Hooper, 16 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder and originally sentenced to life without parole. Because he was a juvenile, he was later scheduled for resentencing.¹²
Charlie Ely, an adult at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. In March 2020, a federal judge vacated her conviction after finding her trial attorney had been ineffective for failing to object to portions of a law enforcement interrogation video. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, received a 10-year sentence, and, having already served more than nine years, was released on June 17, 2020.¹³
James Havens III, who helped dispose of the remains and drove Bargo out of Marion County, was initially found incompetent to stand trial in 2012 and later deemed competent in December 2017. In March 2018 he pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, a first-degree felony carrying up to 30 years. His sentencing was deferred.¹⁴

Where the Case Stands Now

Bargo is held at Union Correctional Institution and remains on Florida’s death row.¹ As of mid-2026, no execution warrant has been issued and he does not appear on the state’s scheduled execution list.¹⁵ Florida has been executing prisoners at an accelerated pace, putting seven people to death in 2026 through May.¹⁶

1
Ocala Star-Banner. Marion County Man to Remain on Death Row After FSC Upholds Sentence
2
Florida Courts. Answer Brief on the Merits, Bargo v. State, No. SC14-125
3
Ocala Star-Banner. Prosecutor: Amber Wright Was Bait for Seath Jackson Murder
4
News.com.au. Death Sentence Recommended for Michael Bargo in Murder of Teenager Seath Jackson
5
Florida Supreme Court. Bargo v. State, No. SC19-1744 Opinion
6
Findlaw. Bargo v. State, No. SC14-125
7
WESH. Seath Jackson’s Mother: We Finally Got Justice for Our Son
8
WCJB. Bargo Resentencing Day Four: Mental Health Experts Testify
9
Findlaw. Bargo v. State, No. SC19-1744
10
Ocala Star-Banner. Justin Soto Pleads Guilty
11
WESH. Amber Wright Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder
12
Ocala Star-Banner. Defendant in Seath Jackson Murder Case to Be Resentenced
13
Ocala Star-Banner. Charlie Ely Wins Freedom
14
Ocala Star-Banner. Guilty Plea to Accessory in Murder of Seath Jackson
15
Death Penalty Information Center. Upcoming Executions
16
Death Penalty Information Center. Executions in 2026