Bio

Levi Jaimes Jackson was born on January 15, 1976. Before the murder, Jackson was living in Arizona. At the time of the offense, he was still a juvenile. Jackson was associated with two other young men, Kevin Artice Miles and Ray Hernandez. On December 7, 1992, the three were together in Tucson, Arizona. Court records state that Jackson and his companions planned to steal a car and had discussed killing someone before the crime occurred.

The case later became significant not only because of the killing itself, but also because Jackson was sentenced to death for a crime committed when he was 16. His sentence was upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court in 1996, but after the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes could not be executed, Jackson’s death sentence was vacated and he was resentenced.

Murder Story

On December 7, 1992, Patricia Baeuerlen drove out of her apartment complex in Tucson, Arizona, and stopped near the intersection of 24th Street and Columbus Avenue. Jackson, Kevin Miles, and Ray Hernandez were standing near the stop sign.

Jackson approached Baeuerlen’s vehicle and asked her for a light. When she looked away, Jackson pulled out a .45-caliber handgun, pointed it at her, and ordered her to move over. Jackson, Miles, and Hernandez then entered the vehicle and took control of it.

Jackson drove the group to a desert area on the southeast side of Tucson. During the drive, Baeuerlen was held at gunpoint. After they arrived in the desert, Jackson ordered her out of the car and away from the vehicle. Several minutes later, he shot her once. The gunshot wound struck her chest area and caused fatal injuries to her heart and lung. She died from the wound.

The crime was prosecuted as first-degree murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery. Jackson’s trial began on September 17, 1993. The jury returned its verdict on September 27, 1993, finding him guilty of first-degree murder, dangerous kidnapping, and dangerous armed robbery.

On January 26, 1994, Jackson was sentenced to death for the murder. He also received consecutive 21-year prison terms for the kidnapping and armed robbery convictions. The prosecution relied on aggravating circumstances, including pecuniary gain and the especially cruel nature of the offense. Mitigating circumstances included Jackson’s age, lack of a prior felony conviction, and evidence of childhood abuse.

Jackson appealed automatically to the Arizona Supreme Court. On May 3, 1996, the court affirmed his convictions and sentences. The court found that the evidence supported the convictions and upheld the death sentence.

In 2001, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a warrant of execution for Jackson, setting an execution date of November 7, 2001. Later that month, the execution was stayed because Jackson had not yet exhausted his appeals.

The legal status of Jackson’s death sentence changed after the United States Supreme Court decided Roper v. Simmons in 2005. That ruling barred the execution of offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes. Because Jackson was 16 when Patricia Baeuerlen was murdered, he could no longer be executed.

After Roper, Jackson received post-conviction relief and was resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years for the murder conviction. His consecutive 21-year sentences for kidnapping and armed robbery remained in place. Later court records described his total sentence as an aggregate term of 67 years, with credit for time served.

Jackson later challenged his sentence again, arguing that the combined sentence functioned like a juvenile life-without-parole sentence. In 2022, the Arizona Court of Appeals reviewed that argument but denied relief. Jackson remains imprisoned.