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ARLINGTON, Texas - A 24-year-old man who was already serving a 10-year prison sentence for another crime has now been charged for a fatal road rage shooting in Arlington back in 2014.
A prison snitch helped police solve the case nearly five years after it happened. Daequayvios Marquis Hill was charged with murder in the death of Michael Jackson Jr., who was 19 at the time of his death.
"Any time we're able to bring closure to a family, especially in light of some of the road rage going on in the city, that’s important to us,” said Arlington Police Lt. Chris Cook. “Their tenacity paid off."
Jackson was fatally shot on December 10, 2014. Police were able to determine it was a road rage shooting that happened in the 1000 block of Tabasco Trail.
Jackson was sitting in the front passenger seat at the time of the shooting, and the driver then took him to an ER clinic when he found that Jackson had been shot. He was then taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.
A day before the fatal shooting, there was a home burglary in the 1000 block of Tabasco Trail. Investigators later identified Hill and his girlfriend as suspects in that case, and they were arrested, along with two others.
Police found a cell phone in the vehicle they were arrested in. When they searched it, they found texts between Hill and his girlfriend about the shooting of Jackson.
"Did you see the news?" Hill texted his girlfriend.
"What is it under cuz I looked for it and idk which one it is,” his girlfriend replied.
"Just type in FOX 4", Hill told his girlfriend.
"Omg baby we gotta go!" his girlfriend replied minutes later.
In those messages, Hill’s girlfriend also told him he should take down the photo of a gun he recently put up on Facebook, saying, “they already been watching yo a** what if they go look at that d*** gun and match it TAKE IT OFF.”
Hill also mentioned the suspect’s vehicle in the shooting, a Ford Taurus.
Investigators spoke with Hill and his girlfriend, but both denied that Hill was responsible for the shooting. Police continued their investigation but were unable to charge Hill more than a year after the shooting.
A detective was then assigned to the case in December 2018 to review the case. On August 9, 2019, he received a tip from a “credible and reliable source.” This source was an inmate with Hill, who was serving a 10-year sentence for an unrelated case.
The source, who was out of prison, told the detective that Hill admitted to shooting Jackson while they were in prison together. He said Hill told him he was in prison for a robbery charge, but that he also shot at a car, but said that case wouldn’t be solved.
Hill was later confronted by a friend of Jackson, and he asked Hill if he killed Jackson. Hill denied killing Jackson. But when the other inmate left, the source said Hill added, “the n**** I shot, that’s his homeboy,” referring to Jackson.
The source signed a confidence statement and said he would testify about what he told the detective. This led police to charge Hill with murder in Jackson’s death.
"All over honking the horn at another motorist. So it’s really unfortunate that peoples’ emotions get driven up and they resort to violence,” Cook said. “It’s one of those deals where we're going to send a strong message. We will continue to seek out evidence until we solve these cases, even though it may be several years later.”