3rd murder suspect arrested in Georgia, police say
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> More than three years since the November 2019 death of Kingston resident Myron Moye in a brutal and “targeted attack” at his home, the previously unnamed third suspect is behind bars.
Christopher L. Jackson, 32, also known as Tahuti Neter, was arrested by Kingston police at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 13, in Decatur, Georgia, according to the department’s arrest blotter. Jackson is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, kidnapping (with intent to collect ransom), kidnapping, burglary of a dwelling (causing injury, two counts), robbery (causing serious injury), criminal possession of a loaded firearm, and conspiracy, all felonies.
Kingston police Lt. Patrick Buono said Tuesday that Kingston police officers traveled to Georgia “over the weekend” to make the arrest.
Christopher Jackson’s name was unknown until Tuesday, when his arrest appeared on the Kingston police blotter. He had been incarcerated in Georgia and Ulster County District Attorney David Clegg, without naming him, has said his office was working to have him extradited to New York to face charges.
Jackson is now at the Ulster County Jail, according to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office. He is being held pending arraignment on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, in response to a question about the publicly available court document, Clegg said, “It is a sealed indictment with respect to this defendant. No comment at this time.”
The nine-page, 14-count indictment charges Christopher L. Jackson, Jacob Jackson, 23, and Melik Ozier Davis, 32, also known as Wavynelz, with four counts each of second-degree murder “while acting in concert with another.” The indictment charges that the defendants “committed burglary in the second degree and in the course of and in furtherance of such crime, defendants or another participant caused the death of Myron Moye, who was not a participant in the crime.”
Asked if Kingston police are looking for a fourth suspect, Buono said, “No, we are not.” He said the phrase “or another participant” is “standard indictment language so as to not rule out the possibility of there being a fourth person.”
He continued, “We had three suspects we were looking for and we’ve got all three of those suspects in custody and we are not, at the moment, actively seeking anybody else.” Buono said police are still “following up on the investigation and will pursue any other leads that come forth but we feel we have all the right people.”
The indictment charged the defendants with four counts of kidnapping. The first count of kidnapping references an individual named “K.M.,” the second count refers to someone named “V.L.” and the third and fourth kidnapping counts do not name a victim. Additionally, they were each charged with two counts of burglary and one count of robbery.
According to the indictment, the men “knowingly entered unlawfully in a dwelling with the intent to commit a crime” and “one or more participants of the crime was armed with a deadly weapon.” Additionally, “while acting in concert with another, forcibly stole property and while in the commission of the crime, he or another participant in the crime was armed with a deadly weapon.” The weapon was identified as a 9mm handgun.
Both Christopher Jackson and Jacob Jackson, according to the indictment, “possessed a loaded firearm.”
All four are charged with conspiracy.
“On or about Oct. 28, 2019, Davis “communicated with Jacob Jackson about “tying kids up” and “doing a sustroke’s,” a gang slang term for robbery, according to the indictment. Further, on or about Oct. 31, 2019, Davis “communicated with Jacob Jackson and Christopher Jackson about West O’Reilly Street in Kingston.” And, also on Oct. 31, Davis “performed internet searches for locations on West O’Reilly Street in Kingston,” the indictment states.
Clegg, who is prosecuting the case, has declined to say whether the attack on Moye was gang-related, saying only that the issue “will be the subject of discussion.” Previously, Clegg called Moye’s slaying “a targeted attack.”
Authorities have said the defendants conspired to rob Moye at his home at 38 W. O’Reilly St. They said the three men plotted the robbery in the days leading up to Moye’s death and that sometime after midnight on Nov. 1, 2019, two of the men entered Moye’s house at 38 W. O’Reilly St., where they tied up two women and a child. One of the women was forced to call Moye to have him come home and when he arrived he was shot and stabbed, authorities said. It is unclear if anything was taken from the home.
Kingston police have said that at about 2 a.m. on the day of the homicide, one of the women at the residence called police reporting that Moye had been shot. He was later pronounced dead at HealthAlliance Hospital’s Broadway campus.
On Nov. 28, 2022, Jacob Jackson, 23, pleaded not guilty to the charges in Ulster County Court. Jacob Jackson is currently serving an unrelated 10-year state prison term for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Police made the first arrest in the case in January 2022 — more than two years after Moye’s death — when they charged Davis with conspiracy to commit murder. In November’s superseding indictment, the charges against Davis were upgraded to include two counts of second-degree murder, kidnapping (while intending to collect ransom), kidnapping, burglary of a dwelling (causing injury), robbery (causing serious injury), burglary with criminal intent, as well as the original conspiracy charge.
Davis has been held at the Ulster County Jail since January 2022, when he was first charged with conspiracy in connection with Moye’s death.
Clegg has said he doesn’t believe Davis was present when Moye was killed but that he was complicit in the killing, which explains why Davis is charged with “acting in concert” with the two others.
Christopher Jackson’s arrest leaves only one unsolved Kingston homicide, the October 2019 shooting death of Daniel Thomas.
Thomas’ was the first of several Kingston homicides that continued through March 2021, all of which have resulted in arrests or adjudication in Ulster County Court.
On Oct. 24, 2019, Thomas, 27, was shot once in the face and died at the hospital. The shooting was near the intersection of Cedar and Prospect streets.