The victim’s body was found in 2024 in a wooded area in East Texas with a black plastic bag tied around her head, court documents revealed.
DALLAS — A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Texas truck driver to life in prison for the 2024 kidnapping and murder of a 25-year-old Army veteran, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced.
Naasson Hazzard, 28, of Austin, was convicted by a jury in January of kidnapping resulting in death, a federal offense that carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay handed down the sentence in a Dallas courtroom.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hazzard’s victim, a 25-year-old woman, was seen on surveillance video entering his semi-truck in Dallas at 9:27 p.m. on August 15, 2024. Eight days later, her body was discovered in a wooded area off Texas Highway 11 in Pittsburg with a black plastic bag tied around her head.
The woman, whose name was not released in the press statement, was a U.S. Army veteran who enlisted immediately after high school. Her funeral was held with full military honors.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Hazzard had picked up the victim with the expectation of engaging in a sex act. After briefly stopping in a nearby parking lot, Hazzard drove more than three hours to Pittsburg, where he remained for nearly an hour and texted his boss that he would be out sick the next day.
Evidence also showed that he later completed a delivery route before returning to the wooded site with his wife. The pair then ate dinner in nearby Tyler.
In the days following the murder, investigators said Hazzard attempted to cover his tracks by switching cell phones, deleting location-sharing apps and cleaning his truck with bleach. He also searched online for sentencing guidelines related to various degrees of murder. His wife searched for local news out of Pittsburg, authorities said.
The victim’s shattered cell phone was recovered on August 23, the same day her body was found, along the route Hazzard traveled the night of her disappearance.
“The tremendous, relentless work of multiple law enforcement partners brought the terrible acts of this predator to light,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson said in a statement. “Now, the life sentence he will serve reflects the value and sanctity of this victim’s life.”
During the sentencing hearing, the victim’s brother delivered an emotional impact statement to the court.
“Naasson didn’t just take a life,” he said. “He destroyed futures. She was a daughter. A sister. A mother. A light in the lives of everyone who knew her. Her life mattered. And her death must mean something.”