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Crime

21-year-old Nathan Potter was a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee film student with a bright future that was cut short by senseless violence.

He was walking back to his Riverwest apartment near campus at around 1:00 a.m. on July 6, 2009.

18-year-old Seandell Jackson tried to rob him while Jackson’s buddy Derek Thomas acted as a lookout.

Potter didn’t have any money, so Jackson pulled the trigger, leaving Potter to die.

Jackson and Thomas then went to Thomas’s home and played video games, as if nothing had happened.

Jackson shot someone else later that day when he saw the man getting into a fight with a woman. Luckily, that victim survived.

Thomas was arrested two months after the murder and told police everything.

A week after Thomas was busted, Jackson was taken into custody in Gulfport, Mississippi by U.S. Marshals, thanks to a tip from his uncle.

The uncle would later say that his coming forward caused a rift with family members.

Legal Proceedings

Thomas pleaded guilty to felony murder.

He was facing up to 35 years in prison. Potter’s family wanted him to get the max, but he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 8 years of extended supervision. He has since been released from prison.

Jackson went to trial in February 2010.

He was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted armed robbery, and first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

When the verdict was read, Jackson appeared to have a tear in his eye, but eventually, he put on a tough-guy act and began looking at the victim’s family, taunting them and acting as if he were proud of what he had done.

As he was led out of the courtroom, he looked back and smiled.

The victim’s family was enraged at his behavior, and at his sentencing in April 2010, Potter’s parents spoke, saying he should never be free again.

Jackson’s mother also spoke, trying to convince the judge to be lenient on her son. Jackson also spoke, asking for leniency.

The judge called him a threat to the public and sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole, plus 5 years for the attempted robbery conviction and 5 years for the other non-fatal shooting that occurred the same day he killed Potter.

Jackson tried to act out and taunt the Potter family, just as he had when the verdict was read, but deputies were prepared for a potential outburst and took him down.

As the courtroom cleared, one of Jackson’s family members had words for the Potter family telling them, “I hate ya’ll.”

Despite the chaos, Potter’s father said he hoped Jackson could change while behind bars.

Aftermath

Now 34, Jackson is incarcerated at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility in Boscobel, Wisconsin.

The maximum security prison can hold up to 500 inmates and is home to Waukesha parade attacker Darrell Brooks.

Despite being locked up for life, Jackson is still trying to find love. An April 2025 post on the Facebook Group, Getting Out Pen Pals, says he is “looking for a woman to give me a chance and get to know me & potentially build something with.”