Two indicted, one charged after man shot dead and left behind a dumpster in Downtown Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — 19-year-old Ryan Nichols and 18-year-old Holden Dodson have been formally indicted by a grand jury after 39-year-old Gary Jackson was found dead behind a dumpster on Ashley Street in early May.

Daniel Deguardia, who was also involved, has been charged with accessory after the fact for a first-degree felony.

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Ryan Nichols has been indicted for first-degree murder, accessory after the fact for a second-degree felony. He has pled not guilty to all charges

Holden Dodson has been indicted for accessory after the fact and has pled guilty.

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Around 6:45 a.m. on May 2, police stated that a passerby saw Gary Jackson laying on the ground in the 500 block of West Ashley Street.

JSO officers responded and found “multiple shell casings (9mm), an extended magazine with live rounds (9mm) beside the victim, and multiple bullet defects to the dumpster,” according to the arrest report.

The report claims that the victim was being chased by at least one of the suspects around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, and the victim tried to hide behind the dumpster.

According to the report, Homicide and Crime Scene Unit detectives learned that the three men were traveling in a Jeep Grand Cherokee around the same time and found that DeGuardia was driving, while Dodson and Nichols were occupants.

Through law enforcement databases, investigators found that the car was registered to DeGuardia’s mother and tracked it to an address in St. Augustine.

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The three men were arrested Wednesday night, May 3 when the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and SWAT Team helped JSO serve search warrants that afternoon.

The victim’s wife, Juanita Jackson expressed how devastated she is by her husband’s passing, describing Gary as a good husband and a good father to their children. The couple had been together for over eight years, and Gary left behind one daughter and three stepchildren.

Nichols and his friend reportedly believed Gary was homeless, but Juanita refutes this, saying that Gary had a family.

“He was never homeless, he had a family. We are his family,” Juanita stated.

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