A Panorama City man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of two men, including one who had been hired to paint over gang graffiti on the wall of a Northridge business.
Jamal Jackson, now 26, was convicted March 11 of two counts of first-degree murder stemming from the deaths of Juan Lopez-Suarez, 39, and Benjamin Marin, 69, along with three counts of attempted murder.
Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder while lying in wait.
Jackson was seen on video surveillance cameras painting graffiti on the building hours before the April 15, 2023, shooting, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Lopez-Suarez — who was among the crew hired to paint over the gang graffiti — was among four people who were struck by gunfire, police said soon after the shooting. He died that day at a hospital, according to records from the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner.
The other murder charge involved a bystander, Benjamin Marin, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The 69-year-old man died just under two months later as a result of multiple organ failure and complications of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to records from the medical examiner’s office.
Jackson has remained behind bars since his arrest about a month after the killing. He was taken into custody in Ontario in San Bernardino County by personnel from the Operations-Valley Bureau Homicide Unit and the LAPD/FBI Fugitive and U.S. Marshals Service Task Force, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Jackson’s white Toyota Camry was also located and recovered as evidence,” police said in a statement.
“Investigation later revealed that nearby surveillance footage showed Jackson exiting his vehicle, a white Toyota Camry, near the victims who were painting out gang graffiti on Vanalden Avenue, north of Parthenia Street,” police said. “Jackson approached the victims on foot and produced a handgun, firing at them multiple times.”