Shariff Jackson, 28, was fatally shot while sitting in a vehicle in a parking lot on the 1200 block of Delaware Avenue in Buffalo shortly before 10 p.m. on July 1, 2020. Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators linked the shooting to a rivalry between the Central Park Gang, which Jackson belonged to, and the Fruit Belt Gang, citing a series of violent incidents involving members of both groups around that time. Mario K. Washington, then 21 and from Buffalo, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the killing. He also faced a weapons charge stemming from a prior search that uncovered an illegal, loaded firearm at his home.

In November 2021 Washington, then 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree, a class B violent felony, and admitted to criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. For the killing of Shariff Jackson, Washington faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

If anyone has information about the shooting or the rivalry between these groups, please share what is known.