Patrick B. Jackson, a Vice Lords gang member, was convicted following his conviction in the 2019 death of Maria Fuentes

“This gang member took a young girl to a quiet area by promising to leave her with her friends and then gunned her down in cold blood to make it look like a shootout from a passing car,” Ogg said. “Only a monster could get away with that calculated planning and premeditation.”

Patrick B. Jackson, 30, was convicted in the murder of Maria Fuentes late Friday.

Jackson is known to be a member of a street gang known as the Vice Lords, officials say.

Fuentes was found shot dead on August 31, 2019 in the 5900 block of Hopetown in the Pine Trails subdivision of east Houston.

Police say Fuentes was taken and shot nine times with a drum-loaded AK-47, a type of assault rifle. Police found 22 bullet casings at the scene.

Investigators learned that Fuentes went to Jackson’s apartment to recover an AR-15 assault rifle that belonged to one of her former roommates.

When Fuentes and another man she knew entered Jackson’s apartment, he demanded to know what they wanted and pulled out a gun.

The man who came with Fuentes fled and later told authorities he saw Jackson with a firearm and saw the missing rifle at the home.

“We received and produced all sorts of evidence: DNA, cellphone records and surveillance video so we could hold him accountable,” said Assistant District Attorney Andrew Figliuzzi, who is prosecuting the case. “He took a life, so vicious and so senseless, and the jury has now held this killer accountable through their verdict.”

Another man, Oshey Demod Petters, 28, is also facing murder charges for his part in the Fuentes shooting. His case is pending.