07/07/2025
The Trial
By Justine Hemmestad
Our Southern Webster County community was devastated by the senseless murder of Southeast Valley High School student Michele “Luna” Jackson, which transpired on September 22nd of last year. Jackson was a Junior.
Luna, who was 17 at the time of her death, is survived by her mother Annette Jackson of Farnhamville, her grandmother Ersel Rushton of Farnhamville, her sister Tawny Leib of Baltimore, Maryland, Chey Bachman of Fort Dodge, Shawna Bachman of Farnhamville, her half-sister Amanda, several aunts and uncles, and her two nephews Kaiden and Logan Leib.
22-year-old Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney, will be in Calhoun County court at 9 am on July 8, in the State of Iowa vs Bevers Mcgivney, Nathaniel Kyren.
Bevers, the surname he was known by as a child, was also the subject of a guardianship case on 5-02-2012 in Webster County Court, the final proceedings of which took place on 7-29-2015.
Though Court documents record a Gowrie residence for Bevers-McGivney, he is stated in the media to be from Farnhamville.
Currently Bevers-McGivney’s attorney is Katherine Flickinger, and the State of Iowa’s attorney is Calhoun County’s Benjamin Smith.
The charge against Bevers-McGivney is Murder in the First Degree, a Class A felony, though the abuse of a co**se (or failure to disclose a known location) charge has been dismissed “solely to close out the instant case file as an administrative measure and not for any substantive reason related to the case's merits,” Calhoun County Attorney Benjamin Smith clarified for the Leader.
“The charge against the defendant will continue to be prosecuted under the new case number, Calhoun County No. FECR506978.”
The abuse of a co**se charge had earlier been applied to Bevers-McGivney because the location of Jackson’s body upon discovery suggested that he tried to hide her and conceal her murder.
His initial plea was not guilty to the charges.
Smith further explained to the Leader, “The original charge wasn’t dropped. It was consolidated with the murder case. When I filed the formal charging document, charging the defendant with murder AND abuse of a co**se, I simply pled the level of charge for the latter (class “C” felony) following the 2021 change in the law as it relates to the penalty for that crime. The charge in the other case was technically dismissed, but in my motion to dismiss, I informed the court that I was dismissing the case because I intended to refile the charge in the formal charging document (indictment or trial information) as part of the murder case.”
On June 13, Bevers-McGivney verbally stated that he understood his right to a 12 person jury and that the jurors must all agree on a verdict, though he waived his right to a jury trial in writing. He stated that he understood that he wouldn’t in any way be rewarded by the prosecution for waiving the jury trial.
Court documents specify: “The non-jury trial in this matter shall commence on July 8, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. in the Courtroom of the Calhoun County Courthouse in Rockwell City, Iowa. Defendant shall personally appear with counsel at the non-jury trial.”
Judge Derek Johnson will determine Bevers-McGivney's guilt or innocence.
