FORT WORTH, TX — A Tarrant County jury has found 25-year-old Jacoby Dejuan Roberts Jr. guilty of capital murder in the April 2023 shooting death of his cousin, Jailon Freeman. Roberts received an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The crime occurred on April 4, 2023, outside an apartment complex on Ivy Wood Lane in south Fort Worth. Prosecutors said Roberts believed Freeman, also 25, owed him money from drug deals they had conducted together. Roberts then orchestrated a fake drug deal to lure Freeman out of his apartment and shot him in the back of the head.
Following the shooting, Roberts took a bag of cocaine and a handgun Freeman was carrying before fleeing the scene.
“This was an ambush,” said Assistant District Attorney Matt Rivers during the trial. “He knew what he did was wrong, so he ran.” Assistant District Attorney Ashton Moore described the act as “calculated and premeditated,” telling jurors, “Jacoby Roberts made a plan (and) executed that plan.”
“Follow the law,” Rivers told the jury. “He's guilty of capital murder.”
Two other men, Jordan Thurman and Draylon Gowans, were also arrested in connection with Freeman’s death. Both have been charged with capital murder for their roles in helping set up the fake drug deal. Their cases are pending.
The case was prosecuted by Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Matt Rivers and Ashton Moore. Special recognition was given to DA Investigator James Desmarais, Victim Advocate CeCe Jones, and the Fort Worth Police Department for their work in the investigation.
