PHOENIX (AP) — A Mexican man has been sentenced to 38 years in prison for killing a store clerk in Arizona during a 2015 robbery that was cited by former President Donald Trump and other Republicans in complaints about immigrants committing crimes while illegally in the US. were US.
Prosecutors had initially demanded the death penalty against Apolinar Altamirano in the attack on Grant Ronnebeck, the 21-year-old clerk who was fatally shot over a pack of cigarettes at the store in Mesa. But a court later ruled that prosecutors could not continue his execution because Altamirano has an intellectual disability.
In Friday’s sentencing, Superior Court judge Justin Beresky described the murder as cold-blooded.
“I honestly think you should probably never get out of jail, but I will follow the plea that has been brokered between the state and the defense,” the judge said, referring to Altamirano’s previous pleas for murder, theft and other charges.
Authorities say Altamirano killed Ronneback after the store clerk insisted that Altamirano pay for a pack of cigarettes before he could get them. They also said that Altamirano then stepped over Ronnebeck to get several packs of cigarettes before leaving the store.
After Ronneback’s murder, police say, Altamirano led officers on a high-speed chase before his arrest, and a handgun and an unopened pack of cigarettes were later found in his vehicle.
Ronnebeck’s relatives expressed grief over his death, describing him as a big-hearted person whose life was unfairly taken.
“There’s no reason for what he did,” Steve Ronnebeck, Grant’s father, said of Altamirano. “There is no justification for what he did.”
The assassination was cited by Trump at a rally during his 2016 campaign. In his first week as president, Trump created an office to serve the victims of immigrant crime and their relatives.
While studies suggest immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the US, Trump relentlessly tried to link up and illegally portray the Mexicans in the country as violent criminals. The Biden administration closed the Trump-era office in 2021 and replaced it with what it claims to be a more comprehensive and inclusive victim support system.
Altamirano, a citizen of Mexico who has lived in the US for about 20 years without permission, had been deported and returned to the US in the past.
Federal immigration officials had said that Altamirano, who was sentenced to probation in 2013 after pleading guilty to facilitating burglary, was awaiting deportation hearings at the time of Ronnebeck’s death.
Emily Wolkowicz, one of Altamirano’s attorneys, said her client was neglected and abused as a child, which affected his cognitive reasoning abilities and was unable to function as an adult alone without the help of his wife. When his wife died, he fell into depression and made wrong choices.
In a letter read in court, Altamirano said he was sorry for ruining the lives of Ronnebeck’s family and Altamirano’s own children. Altamirano said he wished he had been stronger after the death of his wife, on whom he had depended since he was 15.
“I didn’t mean to kill. I had been through so much. I’m not that kind of person,” Altamirano said. “This comes from my heart. I care about people.”
He was given credit for the 7 ½ years he spent in prison awaiting trial for Ronnebeck’s murder.
