WHAT’S THE VERDICT?

GUILTY

In November 2021, the jury found Darian Bashir, then 25, guilty of first-degree murder.

He was also convicted of tampering with evidence for fleeing the scene after the shooting and hiding his licence plates.

Prosecution lawyer Raúl Torrez expressed outrage on behalf of Jackson Weller’s family at the accusations made by the defence team suggesting he’d made racist comments towards Bashir.

‘I think it was disgraceful to try and sully the reputation and the memory of this young man,’ Raúl Torrez said.

‘Thankfully, the jury saw through this shameful attempt to play the race card, and returned a verdict of murder,’ he added.

It wasn’t Bashir’s first encounter with the law.

In 2017, he was charged with reportedly shooting and seriously injuring another man at pub closing time.

The case was dismissed when the victim didn’t testify.

Then, just months before murdering Jackson, Bashir was accused of shooting out a vehicle in southeast Albuquerque.

Jackson’s mother Lisa, father Patrick and younger sister Madison hugged in court following the guilty verdict.

‘I think we’re ready to move forward to the three of us, and unfortunately that’s without Jackson,’ said Lisa.

Madison added, ‘We lost the rock of our family, but we’re just happy that today justice was served.’

Bashir is due to be sentenced this month and faces life in prison.