CALDWELL, Idaho — A 28-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder after detectives say they linked him to a fatal shooting near Caldwell.
Jacob Ryan Neely was booked into the Canyon County Jail Friday. In addition to the murder charge, he is also accused of robbery and violating his parole in a drug possession case.
The victim - identified as 41-year-old Brad Griffin Jacobs of Caldwell - was shot early in the morning of April 9 outside a home on in 19000 block of Wagner Road just west of Caldwell.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, detectives say that Neely had planned to rob Jacobs that morning after learning the victim was carrying about $400 in cash.
Detectives at first believed another suspect, 21-year-old Jennika A. Berry of Caldwell, shot the victim and was alone with him when he died. But according to court documents, four people - including both Berry and Neely - were present.
Investigators say Neely approached the victim as he sat in the car with several other people, pointed a gun at him, and told him to get out. The suspect then demanded his money and cell phone, according to the sheriff's office.
Jacobs, according to the probable cause affidavit, gave up his phone but told Neely he did not have any money.
"There was a short, unknown conversation between Neely and [the victim,]" a detective wrote in the affidavit. "There were words to the effect, 'just walk, leave,' then a gunshot.'"
According to investigators, the group left the wounded man lying on the ground and drove to Boise. Jacobs was already dead when deputies arrived at the scene.
The handgun used in the shooting has not been recovered.
The names of several other people who witnessed the shooting are redacted in the reports, and they have not been publicly identified. Berry, who was taken into custody the day of the shooting, is charged with second-degree murder and is held on a $500,000 bond.
Neely is held without bail and is due back in court May 27. First-degree murder is punishable by up to life in prison or the death penalty.
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