On a late summer evening in Denver, Colorado, the life of Charles Edward Jackson, a 59-year-old Black man, was brought to an abrupt and violent end. The date was August 9, 2007, and at approximately 10:50 p.m., in the parking lot of a Popeye's restaurant at the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Gaylord Street, a conversation between two men escalated with shocking suddenness.
One of the men produced a handgun and shot Jackson multiple times.
Responding officers found Jackson lying next to the drive-through with critical gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal. Witnesses at the scene could only provide a limited description of the assailant, stating that two men had been talking just before the shots were fired. The gunman fled the scene in a vehicle immediately after the shooting, disappearing into the night.
In the days that followed, the Denver Police Department investigated the homicide, exploring potential motives, including the possibility that the murder was drug-related. Investigators believed the suspect was a white male who left the scene in an older model, four-door Volvo. Despite pleas from Jackson's family for anyone with information to come forward, witnesses were unable to definitively identify the shooter. The case eventually went cold, and to this day, no arrests have been made in connection with the murder of Charles Edward Jackson. His death remains an unsolved homicide, a lingering mystery for which his family still seeks answers and justice.
