DALLAS — According to a release from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), a 28-year-old man from Austin was convicted of kidnapping a 25-year-old woman in Dallas and dumping her body in the woods in East Texas.
According to federal officials, Naasson Hazzard, of Austin, was charged in August 2024 and indicted in October 2024. Hazzard’s trial lasted nine days, according to DOJ officials, and after about an hour of deliberation, a jury convicted him of kidnapping resulting in death.
“A young woman’s life was tragically cut short, with her last moments likely spent in terror,” said Acting US Attorney Chad Meacham. “However, those final moments do not define her life. She mattered, her life was valuable, and we are proud to have put her kidnapper behind bars.”
Surveillance video presented in Hazzard’s trial showed the victim, a young sex worker, entering his semi-truck in Dallas at 9:27 p.m. on August 15.
Her body was discovered eight days later in a wooded area off Texas Highway 11 near Pittsburg, Texas, with a black plastic bag tied around her head, according to DOJ officials.
According to cell phone records, Hazzard traveled from the pickup location to a nearby parking lot on the evening of August 15, where he remained for approximately 17 minutes, the DOJ stated in its release.
He then drove more than three hours to a wooded area in Pittsburg, Texas, where he texted his boss that he would be out sick the next day and stayed for nearly an hour before finishing a load for work.
According to the DOJ, Hazzard and his wife returned to the scene the following day before heading to Tyler, Texas, for dinner.
Hazzard later switched phones and deleted his Google and Life360 location-sharing accounts, according to officials.
He also cleaned the truck with bleach and looked up “how many years for first, second, and third-degree murders.” Meanwhile, his wife searched for “Pittsburgh, Texas news.”
On August 23, the same day the victim’s body was discovered, agents discovered her shattered cell phone on the side of the road along Hazzard’s route the night she was killed.
“Just a few months ago, this violent criminal kidnapped and murdered an innocent victim. Travis Pickard, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Dallas, stated that since then, their commitment has been to seek justice. “With this guilty verdict, we’re one step closer to getting justice.
HSI remains committed to using every available method to apprehend those who commit heinous acts in our communities.”
Hazzard now faces an automatic life sentence, according to the DOJ.
