A 16‑year‑old Idaho teen, Bobby Grant Jackson Jr., has admitted fatally shooting 30‑year‑old Rebecca Rivera in Blackfoot because she refused to give him a ride and he believed her brothers were involved in a friend’s death.
What happened
Jackson took a 9 mm handgun from a coworker’s lunchbox while working on a hospital renovation, then went to Rivera’s mobile home in the 1100 block of Broadway Street on October 23, 2025. Surveillance, phone‑location data, and ballistic matches tied him to the crime; investigators say he entered her trailer and shot her in the head after she declined to drive him. Her family found her body later that afternoon.
His statements and motive
Police say Jackson told investigators, “I put a bullet in her brain,” and admitted he killed Rivera as payback because he believed her brothers had a role in his friend’s death. He also said that after Rivera said no to giving him a ride, he decided, “f–k it,” and shot her.
Legal outcome so far
Jackson originally faced first‑degree murder, but he later pleaded guilty to second‑degree murder on January 29, 2026, as part of a binding plea deal. Prosecutors have agreed to seek a sentence between 20 and 27 years; he remains too young for the death penalty under Idaho law because he was a juvenile at the time. Sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2026, in Bingham County.
