AURORA | A 19-year-old Aurora man facing attempted murder charges and accused in a 2025 drive-by shooting has been sentenced to prison for a 2024 attempted carjacking that nearly turned deadly, prosecutors said.
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Darren Vahle on Tuesday sentenced Mark Jackson to 16 years in state prison for attempted aggravated robbery last year in Aurora on the eve of his 18th birthday, according to a statement from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The attempted carjacking happened Oct. 8, 2024. Aurora police responded to a 911 call from a man who said two people tried to steal his car in the 16900 block of East Quincy Avenue.
The victim told officers one of the people, later identified as Jackson, held a pistol to his head and said they were taking his vehicle while his two young daughters sat in the back seat, prosecutors said.
When the victim pushed the gun away, it went off, burning his face but missing him. The man then drew his own gun and fired once as the suspects ran off, according to the district attorney’s office. The robbery was captured on the victim’s dash camera.
“The victim showed incredible courage under unimaginable fear — especially with his children in the car,” Deputy District Attorney Emily Detiveaux said in a statement. “Our community should feel safer knowing this convicted felon is off our streets.”
Aurora police used a license plate reader system after the shooting to locate the suspects’ white Pontiac at a nearby convenience store. When police arrived, Jackson, and passenger Eric Asuako, 21, ran from the car.
Eric Asuako
Asuako was caught after tripping on a hill and was found carrying a stolen handgun fitted with a device known as a “switch” that converts the weapon into a fully automatic machine gun, according to Aurora police. Jackson also had a similarly modified gun, prosecutors said.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation that could have easily ended in tragedy,” Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said. “This father’s quick and brave actions as he was staring at the barrel of a loaded gun may have very well saved his life and the lives of his children.”
Jackson pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery, a felony, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison followed by three years of mandatory parole. Asuako pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by a previous offender, also a felony, and was sentenced to three years in prison.
“Thanks to the quick actions of Aurora police officers, two armed and dangerous individuals were taken off the streets before anyone was killed,” District Attorney Amy Padden said in a statement.
The attempted carjacking later became part of a broader criminal history involving Jackson.
In April 2025, Jackson was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting outside a Conoco gas station at 3202 Peoria St., where a teenage boy was seriously injured, according to previous Sentinel reports. At the time, Jackson was on parole for earlier gun convictions and free on bond in the 2024 carjacking case, police said.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain criticized the state’s juvenile justice system following that arrest.
“Mark Jackson is a prime example of Colorado’s flawed criminal justice system, particularly with respect to the state’s juvenile offenders,” Chamberlain said in a statement. “There is no accountability for criminal actions. There is no justice for victims. There is no meaningful rehabilitation.”
This is exactly why we cannot let the liberals continue take away our 2nd amendment rights. When you restrict ones ability to defend themselves, you take away their god-given freedoms to survive. If the victim here didn’t have his gun, he surely would have had these thugs drive off with his girls and who knows what might have happened. People can’t depend on the police to protect them, so we need to be able protect ourselves. Criminals also don’t care about gun laws. Switches for handguns are illegal, yet they had a handgun fitted with one. How’s the gun control community supposed to stop that. Oh, that’s right, by preventing law abiding citizens from being able to obtain these illegal weapons. I’ve not seen a single liberal plan for how to get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.
True justice would come if the parents of these idiots were also thrown behind bars for raising such useless POS’s to society. Unfortunately, now the taxpayers have to pay to support these criminals in our prison system. Here’s a great opportunity to ship them to a prision in El Salvador.
I don’t have a problem with these two dolts getting the max and taking ownership for their decisions, looks like they’ve never before. The reality, the system will work to minimize what their due.