3 sentenced to life in deadly 2020 Mandarin shooting

Man found dead in parking lot of Sugar Mill Apartments on Crown Point Road. (WJXT)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three men have pleaded guilty to charges and received life sentences in the deadly shooting of a Jacksonville man, who in 2020 was gunned down in a Mandarin apartment complex.

Prosecutors said Elisas Alhirsh, 34, was killed in a planed robbery, during which Andrew Rauco panicked and shot him, according to court records. The investigation revealed that the piece of evidence leading to the arrests was Rauco’s cellphone, which detectives said he dropped while running from the scene.

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant to access the phone, and in it were pictures of the jewelry and watch that Alhirsh wore, which were taken in the robbery. JSO also has a statement from a witness who heard Rauco plan the robbery.

JSO eventually arrested two other men, Lavonta Burrell and Jergen Marku. According to a warrant Marku told Rauco and Burrell to rob Alhirsh to settle a drug debt Rauco owed Marku.

Rauco and Burrell received life sentences Wednesday. Marku was sentenced to life in prison last month and has been behind bars.