Chicago man sentenced to life for Fort Myers murder plot

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A Chicago man has been sentenced to life in prison for murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in Fort Myers.

According to court documents, in November 2019, 27-year-old Latrel Jackson, aka “Kobe,” was hired to travel from Chicago to Fort Myers to commit murder in exchange for $10,000.

Jackson was hired by 25-year-old Fort Myers resident Marvin Harris, Jr., aka “Mesh,” to retaliate against individuals in a gang known as Bucktown that Harris believed had previously robbed a Fort Myers home from which he sold drugs.

Jackson, along with a deceased, unindicted co-conspirator, traveled to Fort Myers from Chicago on Oct. 28, 2019. Harris Jr. picked up Jackson and the co-conspirator from Southwest Florida International Airport and provided them with firearms and partial payment for the murder.

Jackson stayed at Harris Jr.’s “trap house” before moving to a motel on Palm Beach Boulevard.

On Nov. 2, 2019, Harris Jr. provided Jackson and the other co-conspirator with a car for the murder. Jackson and the other conspirator headed to a known Bucktown hangout where they observed a member, K.U., standing outside of the home by the curb.

The duo circled the block and opened fire at close range, killing K.U. with a gunshot to the head.

After the shooting, Harris Jr. paid the duo the remainder of the money for the murder. The duo returned to Chicago via bus on Nov. 3, 2019, with the firearms still in their possession.

During a search of Jackson’s Chicago-area home on Nov. 21, 2019, law enforcement recovered two firearms from an attic space in Jackson’s room.

Testing and examination of the firearms confirmed that both guns matched shell casings recovered from the scene and that one of the firearms had fired the bullet that was recovered from K.U.’s head during his autopsy.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Fort Myers Police Department, with assistance from the Joliet Police Department, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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