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Initial Crime

On February 24th, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada, 15-year-old Mark Michael Ford went to his old neighborhood and broke into a home with plans to burglarize it.

He didn’t think anyone was in the residence, but he was wrong. The homeowner, 56-year-old Vincent Gomes, was inside, and Ford grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him to death.

Ford was arrested the next day; he claimed he stabbed Gomes to prevent him from calling authorities.

Trial

Ford went to trial in 2004, facing first-degree murder charges. He testified on his behalf and told the jury he thought the home was unoccupied. He told them he didn’t go there planning to kill anyone, and he only stabbed Gomes to prevent him from calling the authorities.

The jurors gave him a break and convicted him of second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder. They also found him guilty of robbery.

Ford’s family wrote the judge asking for a lenient sentence. Ford apologized to the victim’s family and his own family for his actions.

Gomes’s ex-wife Roberta told Ford
“You’re not going to get away with it,”
“You might be punished in prison, but the dear Lord is not done with you yet, you will get yours again sometime.”

The prosecution didn’t care about his age or apologies. He had several offenses before the murder, and the district attorney concluded his behavior would get worse in prison. The prosecution also felt he didn’t show remorse.

They wanted him to be sentenced to the maximum term for second-degree murder, which was 26 years to life.

The judge agreed with many of the prosecution’s sentiments and sentenced Ford to 10 years to life for murder, 10 years to life for a weapon charge, and 22 to 96 months for the robbery conviction.

The sentences were set to run consecutively.

Parole

Ford went up for parole in 2012. He was granted parole for his first life sentence; then, he started his second life sentence.

At his second parole hearing in 2022, he said, “I’m definitely asking for forgiveness and a second chance out in life.”

He was considered a low risk to re-offend due to his lack of infractions while locked up. He also obtained a GED and took anger management classes.

The board granted his parole and cited 2009 Assembly Bill 474, which requires that offenders under 16 receive mandatory parole upon completing specific educational and job-training requirements.

He was released on February 24th, 2023, 20 years to the day he stabbed Gomes to death. A year later, he killed again.

Post-release crimes

On February 20th, 2024, Ford allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend, 36-year-old Jessica Russo, inside the home they shared on the south side of Las Vegas.

Russo’s mother expressed outrage that he was on the streets to begin with.

On February 25th, he allegedly shot and killed 44-year-old John Dorotiak outside a casino on the south side of Las Vegas. Dorotiak and Ford were reportedly acquaintances.

Soon after that, the Police believe Ford shot another acquaintance in the head. Luckily, that man survived.

Ford was found dead inside a vehicle later that morning. He has shot himself in the chest.

The motive for his crime spree is unknown.