DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa teenager has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for killing another teenager in 2019.
The Des Moines Register reports that Eliazar Montoya Gama of West Des Moines was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Sakira Bonner.
Dallas County Attorney Charles Sinnard said the judge’s ruling allows Gama to be eligible for parole after serving 30 years in prison. Gama was 17 at the time of the crime. Had he been an adult, he would have been sentenced to life without parole.
“We think justice was served in this instance,” Sinnard said. He declined further comment because three other suspects in the killing are awaiting trial.
Bonner was found lying in the road on April 5, 2019, in West Des Moines. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Gama confessed to beating, robbing and shooting Bonner after she got into his vehicle to buy marijuana.
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