#EXCLUSIVE Photo: 26 yr old Michael Higginbotham booked on murder charges for killing #SF #DPW worker Jermaine Jackson on the job #KTVU pic.twitter.com/HpcgxcUZks
— taramoriarty (@taramoriarty1) December 1, 2016
The afternoon after a Department of Public works staffer was fatally shot as he worked to remove some Mission District graffiti, police say they found and arrested his killer.
As previously reported, 27-year-old San Francisco resident Jermaine Jackson was killed Wednesday as he worked on the 2500 block of 25th Street, which is between San Bruno and Vermont Streets. His death is San Francisco's 50th homicide for 2016.
According to a press release sent to media by the San Francisco Police Department, officers were called to the scene at 8 a.m. Wednesday, and found "Jackson laying on the ground suffering from multiple gunshot wounds." He died of his injuries at San Francisco General Hospital, according to the SFPD.
DPW Director Mohammed Nuru told CBS 5 that Jackson was a “motivated, hard-working and well-liked employee.”
“This was a young man who worked very hard to build a good life for himself and his children," Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement, "and was committed to his work keeping the City of San Francisco and our neighborhoods clean."
Police said Thursday that "Homicide investigators commenced an investigation that led to the identity of the suspect," and that on "November 30, 2016, at approximately 5:30 PM SFPD and Vallejo Police Department officers located and arrested 26 year-old San Francisco resident, Michael Higginbotham in Vallejo Ca."
This is not Higginbotham's first brush with the law: In 2010, ABC 7 reports, Higginbotham was shot in the leg by an IRS agent he was allegedly attempting to rob. The Chron reported at the time that Higginbotham first told emergency room workers that he'd sustained the injuries in an altercation at Market and Turk Streets, but his mother ended up admitting to officials that the story was falsified.
He was also part of a group arrested during the filming of a rap video this March, ABC 7 reports, resulting in drug charges for Higginbotham that were later dismissed. The filmmakers have since filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the SFPD for the arrests.
"Higginbotham was booked for murder at the San Francisco County Jail," police say. He is set to be arraigned Friday afternoon, the Chron reports.
“You know it’s bittersweet for us," Jackson’s Aunt Monica Autry told CBS 5, "because it doesn’t bring back Jermaine, but yeah, we are relieved, and hopefully justice will be served."
Despite Higginbotham's arrest, police say that "investigators are asking anyone with information on this case to contact the San Francisco Police anonymously." You can do so at 415-575-4444 or by texting a tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the start of the message.
Previously: Department Of Public Works Employee Dead Following Mission District Shooting