Naasson Hazzard, a 28-year-old truck driver from Austin, was sentenced today to life in federal prison for the kidnapping and murder of a 25-year-old Army veteran, Caleigha Zangari of San Diego, whose body was found in the woods in August 2024. The sentence, which was mandatory for the charge of kidnapping resulting in death, was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy E. Larson. Zangari's family identified her as a sex trafficking victim.
Hazzard was indicted in October 2024 and convicted by a jury after an eight-day trial in late January of this year. U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay handed down the life sentence today.
Evidence presented at trial revealed chilling details of the crime. Surveillance video captured the victim entering Hazzard’s semi-truck in Dallas at 9:27 p.m. on August 15, 2024. Eight days later, her decomposing body was discovered in a wooded area off Texas Highway 11 in Pittsburg, Texas, with a black plastic bag tied around her head. Information shared during the sentencing hearing highlighted that the victim, an Army veteran who joined the military directly after high school, received full military honors at her funeral.
Cell phone records showed that on the night of August 15, Hazzard traveled from the pickup location to a nearby parking lot, remaining for about 17 minutes. Evidence suggested Hazzard picked up the victim with the expectation of engaging in a sex act. He then drove over three hours to the wooded area in Pittsburg, where he texted his boss about being sick the next day and stayed for almost an hour before continuing his work route.
The following day, Hazzard and his wife returned to the crime scene before going to dinner in Tyler, Texas. In the days that followed, Hazzard changed cell phones, deleted his Google and Life360 location sharing accounts, cleaned his truck with bleach, and searched "how many years for first second and third degree murders." His wife, meanwhile, searched for "Pittsburg Texas news." On August 23, the day the victim’s body was found, her shattered cell phone was recovered on the side of the road along Hazzard’s route from the night of the murder.
During his impact statement at today's sentencing hearing, the victim’s brother addressed the Court: “Your Honor, Naasson didn’t just take a life. He destroyed futures. He created a ripple effect of suffering that reaches further than he could ever understand. I ask you, please don’t see my sister as just a name in a case file. She was a daughter. A sister. A mother. A light in the lives of everyone who knew her. Her life mattered. And her death must mean something.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson commended the "tremendous, relentless work of multiple law enforcement partners" that brought Hazzard's "terrible acts to light." Travis Pickard, Special Agent in Charge HSI Dallas, added that Hazzard "has been justly sentenced...ensuring that society will be safe from his predatory behavior for the remainder of his life."
The North Texas Trafficking Task Force, led by Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, conducted the investigation with assistance from a wide array of agencies, including the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, the Dallas Police Department, the Midlothian Police Department, the Texas Rangers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Titus County Sheriff’s Office, the Buda Police Department, the Austin Police Department, the Hayes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandie Wade and Renee Hunter prosecuted the case with assistance from appellate liaison AUSA Jonathan Bradshaw.
