PANAMA CITY — Prosecutors have revoked a plea offer for the man charged with shooting a 20-year-old Panama City Beach man just days after his partner in the armed robbery plot turned state’s witness.
Randy Trebor Jackson, 24, was charged with third-degree murder after a robbery scheme for about 2 ounces of marijuana turned deadly. Ryan Brooks, 20, was shot multiple times in the Club Apartments parking lot in Panama City Beach. Since then, his accomplice Josh Heath Smith, 23, has taken a plea deal in exchange for agreeing to testify against Jackson at trial.
But the most damning testimony in Jackson’s trial may unwittingly be his own words.
--- DOCUMENT: JACKSON LETTER AND SMITH DEPOSITION»»
Prosecutors revoked a plea offer of 25 years in prison for Jackson on Friday after releasing a jail-house letter written to Smith, telling him to keep to the script that they had not planned the robbery beforehand.
“Listen, no matter what was said, we never talked about a robbery,” Jackson wrote Smith. “… If we get off this robbery charge, the other charges are self-defense and stand your ground. … Please get this robbery off me and let me go free. I saved your life. Now save mine.”
Six people were arrested in the early-morning fallout of the July 10 shooting at the Club Apartments, 325 Richard Jackson Blvd., as the three survivors allegedly tried to cover their tracks.
Joseph Cannizzo, 25, and Brooks waited in a green SUV while in the Club parking lot for Smith to conduct a deal for about 2 ounces of marijuana. Smith’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Alyssa Watford, had previously dated Brooks and arranged the transaction between the two, according to Smith’s sworn testimony.
Smith and Jackson discussed beforehand how they would catch Brooks off guard. Jackson would remain behind in the deeply tinted Kia Forte, waiting to get the drop on him, Smith said.
But they didn’t anticipate the other side would also be aiming to rob them.
After Smith brought the money into Brooks’ green SUV, Cannizzo drew on him — ordering Smith to drop his pants, where his gun was stored.
“As soon as I hop in the car, they pulled guns on me,” Smith said in a deposition during October. “I started wrestling with them and I tried to get my gun but Ryan had his hand on my arm, holding my hand down. And Joey hit me in the face with his gun and I just gave up after that and put my hands up.”
Brooks then stepped out and walked over to search the Kia. Neither Brooks nor Cannizzo knew Jackson was in the car until gunfire roared from inside.
“After the flashes happened, I saw Ryan kind of stumble back,” Smith said. “Then Joey hopped out and started shooting at the car.”
Smith fled on foot through the woods as Cannizzo ran over to his injured friend. Brooks would die face down on the asphalt shortly thereafter, and police helicopters would begin to circle in the night sky.
--- DOCUMENT: JACKSON LETTER AND SMITH DEPOSITION»»
Six people were arrested in connection with the shooting. Watford has pleaded not guilty to principal to attempted robbery. Cannizzo has also pleaded not guilty to principal to robbery with a firearm for allegedly attempting to stickup Smith, while his girlfriend 26-year-old Nichole Philbrook has pleaded to three years probation for tampering with physical evidence and attempting to cover up for Cannizzo.
Clinton Robert Allen, 34, who accepted the alleged murder weapon from Jackson, has also pleaded to four years on probation to testify truthfully in the case against Jackson.
Prosecutors revoked a plea offer of 25 years in prison for Jackson, and indicated there would not be another as his January trial approaches. Smith was relocated to another facility for his well-being until then. If he cooperates at trial, he will be sentenced to 10 years in prison.