A truck driver who kidnapped a young veteran in Dallas and then dumped her body in East Texas last year was sentenced to life in federal prison.
Naasson Hazzard, a 28-year-old from Austin, was previously charged and convicted for the heinous crime, said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy Larson in a press release. On June 12, District Judge Sam Lindsay sentenced him to life in federal prison.
“The jury answered the call for justice by finding him guilty,” Larson said in the release. “Now, the life sentence he will serve reflects the value and sanctity of this victim’s life. We hope that this sentence helps her family in the healing process.”
Hazzard was indicted in October for “kidnapping resulting in death,” with a mandatory sentence of life in prison. A jury convicted him in January.
Hazzard’s victim was 25-year-old Army veteran Caleigha Zangari from San Diego, California, according to Fox 4. Her family identified her as a sex trafficking victim.
Surveillance footage captured Zangari entering Hazzard’s semi-truck in Dallas on the night of August 15, 2024, according to the release. This took place near Harry Hines Blvd., an area The Dallas Express reported is known for prostitution and sex trafficking.
“Eight days later, her decomposing body was found in a wooded area off Texas Highway 11 in Pittsburg, Texas, with a black plastic bag tied around her head,” the release reads.
The night Hazzard picked up the victim, he went to a “nearby parking lot” for close to 17 minutes, according to the release. Evidence in the trial suggested he picked her up “with the expectation of engaging in a sex act.”
Then, Hazzard drove more than three hours to a “wooded area” off Highway 11 in the East Texas city of Pittsburg, where he remained for “almost an hour,” cell phone records showed. He texted his boss he would be out sick the next day. He and his wife returned to the scene the next day before going to dinner in Tyler.
In the following days, Hazzard switched cell phones and deleted his Google and Life360 “location sharing accounts,” according to the release. He had searched “how many years for first second and third degree murders,” while his wife searched for “Pittsburg Texas news.” Hazzard also cleaned his truck with bleach.
Police found the victim’s body on August 23, the release said. The same day, “agents” found her cell phone “shattered on the side of the road” along the route Hazzard took the same night he killed her.
The North Texas Trafficking Task Force investigated the crime with help from the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI Dallas Field Office, Texas Rangers, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. They also worked with the Haynes and Titus County Sheriff’s Offices and police in Austin, Buda, Dallas, and Midlothian. ICE-Homeland Security Investigations leads the task force.
Dexter Henson, ICE Dallas’ spokesman, told The Dallas Express that “there are a number of police departments that help support the task force.” He said the case demonstrates “the role that we play in state and local” law enforcement.
“That task force was the reason that we were able to bring justice to this individual,” Henson said. “In order to do that, there was collaboration between our state and locals.”
Travis Pickard, special agent in charge of HSI Dallas, called Hazzard’s crime “abhorrent” in the release. He also wished the judgment would “provide some solace to the victim’s family.”
“HSI will never relent in our pursuit of sexual predators who aim to exploit and harm unsuspecting victims,” Pickard said.
Hazzard’s victim, Caleigha Zangari, “entered the military immediately after high school,” according to the release. Her funeral included “full military honors.”
“Naasson didn’t just take a life. He destroyed futures. He created a ripple effect of suffering that reaches further than he could ever understand,” Zangari’s brother said during the sentencing, per the release. “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.”