17-year-old charged with kidnapping migrants following FBI raid at Greenspoint motel, records say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A 17-year-old has been charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping following an FBI hostage rescue operation Thursday that left one suspect dead and two migrants safely recovered.

Josiah Lamarion Jackson remains in the Harris County jail on bonds totaling $100,000. The teen made his first court appearance on Friday afternoon.

“This is a situation where the potential for future community safety is in danger. I don’t know what promoted this type of event to occur,” the hearing officer said in court.

New details of the ordeal were revealed via court records.

Records say after a man and a woman were kidnapped along I-10 in Waller County last weekend, Jackson and an accomplice, identified as Alberto Montes, first held the victims in a motel on Highway 249. According to motel management, the FBI forced entry on Tuesday, but the victims and their kidnappers were already gone. Friday, repairs to the room were still being made.

Authorities then tracked the group to a Studio 6 motel in the Greenspoint area, where the kidnappers first rented room 212, court records say. Officers watched as food for four people was delivered.

It is also where, with the FBI’s help, $3,500 was exchanged for the release of the male hostage. The kidnappers allegedly called and texted the victim’s son, demanding the ransom. Afterward, they moved the remaining hostage to room 218, where the entire plot came to a deadly end.

After killing Montes, who court records say was armed, the female hostage was rescued. Jackson, who fled the scene, was arrested nearby by HCSO deputies.

In court, the hearing officer pointed out the “egregiousness” of the offense.

Jackson has no criminal history in Texas. His next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, March 27.