Background: News footage of Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney in court (KCCI). Inset: Michele “Luna” Jackson (Laufersweiler Funeral Home).
An Iowa man who was discovered riding a green scooter belonging to a missing teenage girl has been found guilty of her murder and concealing her body in a garbage can.
Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney, 22, was convicted of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse by a judge on Wednesday, several months after Michele “Luna” Jackson, 17, was discovered in a garbage can in Farnhamville, approximately 80 miles northwest of Des Moines. During the trial, Jackson’s family members expressed their concern when she did not return home from a local park on the evening of September 22, 2024.
They later came across Bevers-McGivney, who was riding Jackson’s green scooter. One of Jackson’s shoes was in the scooter’s basket, covered in blood.
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Local CBS affiliate KCCI reported from the courtroom that Jackson’s mother, sister, and her sister’s boyfriend went out searching for her in the vicinity. They encountered Bevers-McGivney, who was on Jackson’s distinct scooter and insisted it was his. He later altered his claim, saying he had simply found the scooter.
Jackson’s mother called 911 during the confrontation with Bevers-McGivney, and the audio was played in the courtroom as evidence. The call included the moment she told dispatchers that she found her daughter’s bloody shoe in the scooter’s basket.
Also shown in court was cellphone video taken by Jackson’s sister during the 911 call her mother made. In the video, the boyfriend of Jackson’s sister can be seen holding a gun at Bevers-McGivney. They testified that they held Bevers-McGivney at gunpoint until police arrived.
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According to court documents obtained by KCCI, Bevers-McGivney was “covered in apparent blood” when Jackson’s family members found him. McClatchy News reported that according to authorities, the teenager’s blood was found at Bevers-McGivney’s home in his bathtub, on the floor, and on a towel and clothing.
Those documents stated that Jackson was stabbed around 22 times and the blade of the knife that Bevers-McGivney used to kill her was stuck in her back. The handle of the knife was found in the garbage at his home.
Jackson’s body was found in a garbage can by a worker the next morning. The garbage can was rolling around the park where she was known go on the swings and listen to music.
Bevers-McGivney waived a jury trial and was convicted of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse by District Court Judge Derek Johnson. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15.
