On a summer evening in Buffalo, New York, 28-year-old Shariff Jackson was fatally shot while sitting in a vehicle. The incident occurred shortly before 10 p.m. on July 1, 2020, in a parking lot in the 1200 block of Delaware Avenue. Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting led to the arrest of Mario K. Washington, a 21-year-old from Buffalo. He was initially charged with second-degree murder.
Investigators believed the homicide was connected to a rivalry between the Central Park Gang, of which Jackson was a member, and the Fruit Belt Gang. This belief stemmed from a series of violent incidents involving members of both gangs around the time of Jackson's death.
In November 2021, Mario K. Washington, then 23, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in the first degree, a class B violent felony. As part of his plea, Washington also admitted to a separate charge of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. This charge arose from an earlier incident where a search of his home uncovered an illegal, loaded firearm. For the killing of Shariff Jackson, Washington faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
