LEAGUE CITY, Texas – A man accused of shooting a woman in League City and putting her body in a ditch in 2021 will serve a life sentence, Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady said.
Mark Anthony Jackson’s sentence was announced Monday morning in the 405th District Court of Galveston County.
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Throughout last week, a Galveston County jury heard testimony regarding the final moments of victim Karli Hurley’s life.
Investigators said Jackson, who “hardly knew” Hurley, came to her apartment and asked for a ride to the store to get cigarettes. They left the apartment complex early on Oct. 25, 2021, and went to a nearby gas station, where police said they were both seen on video. From there, they went to a rural area of League City, where Jackson reportedly shot the victim twice in the back.
Jackson left Hurley face down in a partially flooded drainage ditch to “die slowly” from her wounds, a news release from the district attorney’s office said. He then returned to the apartment complex, abandoned the car they rode in, and tampered with the firearm used to kill her, investigators said.
“The evidence at trial showed this was a particularly senseless act of violence shown to have occurred without provocation or identifiable motive,” the release said.
After the jury returned with a guilty verdict, the punishment phase began. The jury learned that Jackson was reportedly a repeat offender with five separate prison trips for a total of seven separate felony offenses, including offenses involving the distribution of controlled substances and illegal possession of firearms.
Jackson only served four years of his last prison sentence from 2017, which was 15 years, Roady said. Other testimony showed that the defendant had multiple prior charges for assaults and weapons.
“Hurley was a true bright spot in this world. Family and friends describe her as an extremely upbeat person who always saw the good in others and made friends instantly where ever she went,” the release said.
Roady said the victim was a mother of two. She was engaged to be married at the time of her death.
“Their pain is immense and though they are thankful for the justice that the jury provided, they know that they will never be whole again,” Roady said.