What happened to the Alabama mom who texted for help when she was kidnapped?

This article contains graphic descriptions of murder, torture, and sexual abuse. Please read with caution.

What would you do if you were kidnapped? In Feb. 2024, 20-year-old Mahogany Jackson, from Birmingham, Alabama, texted her mom: I’m being held hostage, please send help. The message also included an address and the name of a person who lived in the apartment where she was being held.

Jackson’s mother, Gail Maddox Trotter, immediately reported her daughter missing. “I knew something was not right. I knew something was wrong with my child. She’s tough, let me tell you. She is tough, and she is not the type of person that’s going to call for help, and she does not need it,” Maddox Trotter later said.

Mahogany Jackson was gone when the police arrived

Police rushed to the address Maddox Trotter provided, spoke with witnesses, and searched the area, but Mahogany Jackson was gone, and there were no signs of who she said took her. Early the next morning, Jackson was found dead. She had been tortured, sexually assaulted, and shot in the head, and the whole ordeal was captured on video.

According to AL.com, a witness involved came forward to tell the police what happened and where Jackson’s body might be found, and to clarify he was not involved. Reportedly, it all started when Jackson, the mother of a three-year-old girl, allegedly stole a gun from one of the suspects, which was then stolen back, and according to the prosecution, Jackson died over the disagreement.

“The facts of this case are deplorable and sickening. Saddest of all, they were made public by the suspects’ decision to videotape portions of this horrific act,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said at a press conference. “This is undoubtedly one of the most heinous acts I’ve seen in my career. It’s absolutely disgusting,” Thurmond added.

Mahogany Jackson’s captors knew she used her phone

Before she died, Mahogany Jackson’s captors discovered her text to her mother, threatened Jackson to reveal her passcode, and moved her from the address she sent — which explains why she was nowhere to be found when police arrived. To date, eight suspects — seven men and one woman, all of whom were acquainted with Jackson — are in custody for their role in the young mother’s abduction, sexual assault, and death.

Video footage taken by the accused of Jackson’s torture has been used as evidence in the case. Referring to the grisly footage, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr called what’s captured “sheer brutality,” according to ABC3340.com. ” … [T]he barbaric nature of it, you can’t substitute that by just still photos,” Carr said.

Shortly after Jackson died, her family held a candlelight vigil in her honor. Jackson’s uncle, Otis Bates, paid tribute to Jackson at the event. Meanwhile, Jackson’s mother, Gail Maddox Trotter, said, “[Jackson] had just begun getting real close to her cousins, and she was my baby. And she had a baby and didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.