Five suspects in the Mahogany Jackson case face new murder charges

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBMA) — Charges against five people charged with the kidnapping, torture and murder of Mahogany Jackson have now been upgraded from aggravated murder to capital murder.

Mahogany Jackson was found dead on Monday, February 26, 2024. She had been reported missing the day before.

Jackson's mother, Gail Maddox, had said on social media that Jackson had sent urgent messages to her family saying she had been kidnapped and that they should not call the police but send them to the Serenity Apartment homes immediately.

Her body was found covered with a mattress on the side of the road at 17th Street SW and Laurel Avenue, two and a half miles from the location Maddox had previously been told.

Through investigations, Birmingham Police found eight suspects in connection with the case.

During a trial in March, the state presented details of eight videos in which Jackson was forced to perform oral sex at gunpoint, stripped naked, handcuffed, kicked, slapped and spit on.

All suspects were pictured in the videos.

More than seven months later, new charges are still being filed in the case.

Teja Lewis (26), Ariana Lashay Robinson (23), Si'Niya McCall (24), Giovonnie Clapp (24) and Blair Green (26) were charged with felony murder on September 13 after the 9th session of the grand jury upgraded to capital murder Evidence presented in the case was heard in Jefferson County District Court.

Francis “Ace” Harris, 25, Jeremiah “Kodak” McDowell, 18, and Brandon Pope, 25, were previously charged with murder.

Harris, who is charged with murder during a rape/sodomy, also allegedly fired the fatal shot at Harris.

If convicted of capital murder, each suspect faces at least life in prison or the death penalty.

We will continue to report on this story.