A teenager was sentenced to 14 years in prison after shooting and killing a man in a Phoenix road rage incident last August.
The victim, Porfirio Medina, was driving a scooter near a Phoenix intersection when he nearly collided with a car in which 16-year-old Henry Gonzales was a passenger. Medina, 45, then followed the car to an intersection near Seventh Street and Buckeye Road. He approached the passenger seat when Gonzales rolled down the window and shot him in the chest.
The vehicle fled the scene without calling 911 or reporting the accident to police.
Video surveillance, license plate readers and cell phone location data directed law enforcement to Gonzales, who was 15 years old at the time.
Gonzales admitted in interviews with investigators
that he had illegally bought the handgun several days before the shooting, knowing it was illegal for minors to possess. He said he sold the gun after the shooting out of fear he would use it again.
“A brief confrontation on the road ended with a man dead and a teenager facing years in prison," Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement. "One reckless decision changed two families forever."
Gonzales pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter, which is a Class 2 felony.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Deadly Phoenix road rage shooting sends teen to prison
