A man's death at a Lakeland mobile home park on Christmas evening is being called a homicide case.

  • Deputies investigating death at Lakeland mobile home park 
  • Victim identified as Russell L. Jackson
  • Authorities offering $3,000 reward for info leading to arrest

The Polk County Sheriff's Office received a call at 7:30 p.m. about a man found dead in his mobile home on east Peachtree Street.

He was identified Tuesday afternoon as Russell L. Jackson, 59.

After the death was determined to be suspicious, Polk homicide detectives and crime scene investigators arrived and began processing the scene. 

Detectives went door-to-door, searching for witnesses. Authorities also have been looking for any residents with surveillance video from about 6 p.m. Christmas night. 

Another neighbor said he turned over video to investigators that shows one or two people coming and going from the mobile home as many as three times before the man was found dead.


Polk County Sheriff's homicide detectives are looking into the death of a man whose body was found in a Lakeland mobile home on east Peachtree Street on Christmas evening. (Jason Lanning, staff)

"It's hard now to see all this and to know what happened," mobile home park resident Allen Deeson said. "I don’t care what anybody says. He did not deserve this."

Investigators were also seen early Tuesday morning pouring molds in the dirt across the street from the mobile home park, presumably of either footprint or tire tracks that may help them identify a suspect or vehicle involved.

"Murder is horrible at any time of year, but to take a man's life on Christmas Day is unfathomable. We need the community's help to identify this cold-blooded killer sooner rather than later, and put him behind bars," Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Authorities are offering a $3,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Jackson had a criminal history in Polk County and Highlands County since 2002 that included assault, battery, drug charges and resisting arrest, the Sheriff's Office said.