A Los Angeles man was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole immediately after pleading no contest yesterday to killing a witness to a crime in Long Beach.
Jason Haggerty pleaded no contest to first-degree murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He also admitted special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and intentionally killing the victim because she was a witness to a crime, officials stated.
Haggerty was the suspect in the 2013 murder of 23-year-old Jazzmine Wash, who prosecutors said had recently began prostituting for the defendant at the time of the crime.
Long Beach police officials previously said that the killing was a revenge plot concocted by then 30-year-old Haggerty, who blamed Wash for a parole violation that could have potentially sent him to prison. Additionally, prosecutors said that Haggerty was apprehended by an anti-pimping task force on July 16, 2013 and in that arrest, Wash cooperated with police on their investigation on Haggerty.
The murder plot itself was carried out 10 days later, when police officials said Haggerty sent an unnamed 16-year-old female to pick up Wash and her child with plans to return to Wash’s grandparents’ home in Long Beach. Haggerty waited near the home and, once Wash was dropped off, allegedly shot her.
Prosecutors said Wash was shot eight times when she exited the residence and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Haggerty has an extensive criminal history, which includes assaults, property crimes, narcotic violations, and fraud,” then-LBPD Chief Jim McDonnell said during a September 2013 news conference announcing the defendant’s arrest.