JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 31-year-old Woodlawn man was sentenced Thursday in Jefferson County Court to 80 years in prison for the 2021 murder of Jamarco Foulks at a Mt. Vernon bar.

Judge Jerry Crisel sentenced Jaquez Gardner Thursday to 70 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections plus another 10 years for the use of a firearm.

In November 2022, a Jefferson County jury found Gardner guilty on all charges against him after only two hours of deliberation.

Multiple video clips were projected onto a big screen in the courtroom and State’s Attorney Sean Featherstun walked jurors through the progression of events that led to Foulks’ death. Video of the victim was included in the evidence prosecutors introduced in the four-day case against Gardner.

Gardner verbally attacked the State’s Attorney as he was removed from the courtroom after the jury delivered its verdicts.

He was on parole in Jefferson County case for armed violence when he shot Foulks at the Corner Tavern in July of last year. Gardner fled the area after the shooting and was later indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury. He was ultimately located and arrested at a Metro East motel.