Blackfoot, Idaho — The quiet of a Thursday afternoon in Blackfoot shattered when police found 30-year-old Rebecca Rivera dead in her trailer home. Now, 16-year-old Bobby G. Jackson, a Blackfoot resident, sits in custody, accused of first-degree murder in what prosecutors say was a coldly calculated act.
At his arraignment Wednesday morning in Bingham County Court, Jackson was formally charged and ordered held on $1 million bond at the 3B Detention Facility. He appeared with his public defender and looked on as the court affirmed the severity of the charges. Prosecutors pressed that Jackson’s criminal past and the nature of this crime justified high bail and stringent oversight.
Investigators say Rivera was shot in the head at a trailer park at 1159 Broadway on October 23, 2025. Though the exact nature of Jackson and Rivera’s relationship hasn’t been confirmed, the case goes deeper: before the killing, Jackson allegedly stole a firearm and had once been reported missing as a runaway. The state describes the killing as premeditated, claiming Jackson acted with intent and forethought.
Surveillance and investigative leads traced Jackson’s movements following the shooting. He departed Blackfoot, then reportedly passed through Chubbuck, and eventually ended up in Pocatello. There, late Thursday night, law enforcement arrested him without incident, ending a tense manhunt. The Blackfoot Police Department publicly thanked cooperating agencies across Southeast Idaho for their role in locating him.
During the hearing, prosecutors underscored Jackson’s prior brush with the law. He had been charged previously for a burglary with aggravated circumstances, and was on probation in Twin Falls for a case where he allegedly had pointed a fake gun in an attempt to commit theft. Jackson reportedly admitted to detectives that he and Rivera had made contact earlier that day, and when she refused him a ride, he pulled out the gun and said, “I put a bullet in her brain.” He also reportedly justified his act by claiming, “I recognized Rivera and believed her brothers had killed my friend.”
Police reports say the sequence began around 12:50 p.m. Thursday, when a gun was reported stolen from a worker’s lunchbox at State Hospital South. Jackson worked under a subcontractor there, and security footage allegedly shows him entering a truck and retrieving the weapon. Later, a death scene was reported in a trailer home near 1159 South Broadway. Officers found Rivera in a back room, a shell casing on the bed—but no firearm in view. Her family was called by her daughter, who said her mother had failed to show to pick her up from school.
Neighbors reportedly saw Jackson earlier in the day, including asking for a ride, and security cameras later captured him at gas stations, at the trailer park, and at a collision shop. Jackson is currently being held at the 3B Juvenile Detention Center in Idaho Falls, pending a preliminary hearing set for November 6 in Bingham County. If convicted, he could face life in prison—the death penalty is not on the table given his age.
The Blackfoot Police Department released a statement expressing sorrow: “Our hearts go out to the Rivera family, our community, and all those affected by this tragic crime.” The town now mourns the loss of Rebecca Rivera and awaits answers as the case moves forward.
The post Young Life Taken, a Town in Shock: Teen Charged with Murdering Rebecca Rivera appeared first on Tripplenews.
