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Pair arrested in man's slaying

Lottery winner Jeffrey Dampier's sister-in-law and her boyfriend were booked into a Jacksonville jail.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published July 30, 2005

TAMPA - They forced Jeffrey Dampier Jr. into his van at gunpoint and drove him around southern Hillsborough County for half an hour, beating him with a semiautomatic handgun and telling him to hand over his money.

By the time Dampier's assailants shot him and left him to die Tuesday night at the end of a residential street in Seffner, they had thousands of dollars that belonged to him, authorities said Friday.

"They drove around with him for a while, and at some point obtained a lot of money," said Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway, without elaborating. He said it was "thousands of dollars, but less than $10,000."

The details of Dampier's final minutes emerged following the arrest of Victoria Jackson, Dampier's sister-in-law; and Nathaniel Jackson, who is Victoria's boyfriend but no relation. The two are accused of fatally shooting Dampier. Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives say the Jacksons planned the robbery of Dampier, 39, a Tampa popcorn shop owner who in 1996 won a $20-million Illinois lottery with his then-girlfriend, now ex-wife.

"The motive was robbery, plain and simple," Callaway said. "They were aware of his wealth."

Victoria Jackson, the 23-year-old sister of Dampier's wife, Crystal; and Nathaniel Jackson, 24, were being held without bail Friday in a Jacksonville jail. Callaway said they will be extradited to Hillsborough County soon.

They were arrested Thursday night as they left the Jacksonville home of 53-year-old Alamin Rasheed, identified by Callaway as Nathaniel Jackson's father.

Jacksonville sheriff's officers went to the home at 2125 Morehouse Road after receiving a 9:25 p.m. call from someone in the house who said the Jacksons were hiding there, said agency spokesman Ken Jefferson.

Officers went to the neighborhood, surrounded the house and waited.

Before long, Victoria and Nathaniel Jackson walked outside and got into a car, Jefferson said. Officers boxed them in.

Nathaniel Jackson initially gave officers a false name. But in his wallet, they found his Illinois ID card and $1,500 in cash, Jefferson said.

Detectives think the $1,500 in Nathaniel Jackson's wallet came from Dampier.

"But right now, we don't know where the remainder of the money is," Callaway said.

Later, when they took him from the patrol car into the jail, they found a small bag of marijuana, authorities said.

Asked why he lied about his name, he told the officers he was wanted on a traffic violation and didn't want to get arrested.

Victoria Jackson also gave several false names and dates of birth, Jefferson said.

Victoria and Nathaniel Jackson were booked into the Jacksonville jail just after 6 a.m. Friday on felony charges of first-degree murder, armed kidnapping, aggravated armed assault and armed carjacking.

Homicide detectives interviewed Rasheed and then released him, Jefferson said. A woman living at Rasheed's house later let authorities search it. Jefferson said the only thing officers took from the house was a pair of sneakers and a T-shirt.

In Hillsborough, detectives said they have fingerprints and other forensic evidence from Dampier's van, where Dampier was shot on the floorboard between the driver and passenger seats.

According to Hillsborough sheriff's investigators, Dampier drove to the Jacksons' Brandon apartment, 350 Lakewood Drive, Tuesday evening.

Relatives say Dampier, owner of Kassie's Gourmet Popcorn in Tampa's Channelside entertainment district, was on his way to a family dinner at Olive Garden. He stopped at the apartment first because Victoria Jackson told him she was having car trouble and needed help, Dampier's family told the Times this week.

Shortly before 8 p.m., Victoria Jackson and Nathaniel Jackson pulled a semiautomatic handgun on Dampier and another woman at the apartment and forced both into Dampier's 2005 GMC van, according to sheriff's detectives. Callaway said the other woman is not being identified because she is a witness in the investigation.

The Jacksons fled with the cash after shooting Dampier and leaving him in the van, Callaway said. Dampier was dead by the time deputies arrived at 2320 Magnolia Ave., a dead-end street in Seffner, about 8:20 p.m.

Dampier's relatives did not want to comment on the Jacksons' arrests.

Friday night, they gathered at the Hillsboro Memorial Funeral Home in Brandon for a visitation service. This afternoon, they will come together for his funeral at New Hope Baptist Church in Tampa.

Dampier's 14-year-old daughter from his previous marriage will be there, said her mother, Debra Jackson. She is not related to the accused Jacksons.

She said she and Dampier dated for 121/2 years and married soon after they won the lottery. They divorced a few years later, but remained close because of their daughter.

The daughter was here for the summer and planned to move into Dampier's FishHawk Ranch home so that she could start high school here next month, her mother said.

"He was her best friend. And he was a wonderful father."

Staff researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 30, 2005, 01:33:54]