Mark Anthony Jackson, on the left, and Karli Hope Hurley, on the right. (Galveston County Jail; Obituary)
A Texas man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing a woman who helped him buy cigarettes, court records show.
Mark Anthony Jackson, 44, was recently convicted on one count of murder in the first degree by a jury in Galveston County for shooting and killing Karli Hope Hurley, 27, for seemingly no reason at all.
On Monday, a judge in the Lone Star State's 405th Judicial District imposed on the defendant a sentence of life in prison – a sentence that was previously determined by Galveston County jurors. His current jail record suggests an "estimated" release date of July 2122.
During the early morning hours of Oct. 25, 2021, Jackson showed up at Hurley's apartment and asked the woman he "hardly knew," for a ride to the store, according to a press release issued by the Galveston County Criminal District Attorney's Office. She obliged the request. The two were later seen on surveillance video at a nearby gas station.
After that, they traveled to a rural area of League City. There, Jackson shot Hurley twice in the back. He then left his victim, laying face down, "in a partially flooded drainage ditch to die slowly from her wounds," the DA's office said. As Hurley died, the defendant went back to the apartment complex, ditched her car, and "tampered" with the gun used to kill the acquaintance who had helped him that night.
Hurley's body was found by a passing motorist the next day; Jackson was arrested and charged on Oct. 28, 2021. After being detained in the Galveston County Jail, the defendant was granted and posted $200,000 bond in late September 2022.
After nearly two years of pretrial motions being filed in the case, the wheels of Texas justice finally turned fast. Jackson entered a plea of not guilty to the charges on the morning of July 17; his trial began later that same morning and quickly ended; jurors were given their charge to deliberate at 3:36 p.m. on July 19; the defendant was convicted and sentenced by the jury at 2:07 p.m. on July 20.
Judge Jared Robinson set the sentence in motion on Monday, July 24. Jackson immediately appealed his conviction and sentence.
The murder itself remains something of a mystery.
"The evidence at trial showed this was a particularly senseless act of violence shown to have occurred without provocation or identifiable motive," the DA's office said in their press release. "In punishment, the jury learned that [Jackson] was a repeat offender with five separate prison trips for a total of seven separate felony offenses."
Hurley was remembered as "an extremely upbeat person" and "a true bright spot in this world," the DA's office said, noting the large number of family members who were victimized by 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," the DA's office added.
The slain mother of two "loved her children dearly" and considered them "the most precious gift she had," her obituary says.
"She had a passion for writing in her journals, going to the beach, her vibrant hair colors and new tattoos," the deceased woman's eulogy continues. "She appreciated and enjoyed life to the fullest."
Hurley was engaged to be married when she died.