LOVELAND, Colo. — A 17-year-old has been sentenced to decades in prison in connection with a January 2023 shooting and carjacking that left an 18-year-old dead and another teen seriously injured, the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office said.
Vincent Zamora pleaded guilty in April to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Loveland Police said 18-year-old Nasier Graham was killed in the shooting the night of Jan. 20, 2023 at Brookstone Apartment Homes on First Street in Loveland.
From January 2023: 18-year-old killed in Loveland carjacking identified
Police said at the time that the driver of a pickup truck pulled into the apartment parking lot and stopped in front of the car Graham was in. Two people got out of the truck and fired shots, according to police. Graham was removed from the car, then the two people got inside and followed the truck around the apartment complex, police said at the time.
The driver of the stolen car then slid on ice and crashed into a parked car with a 16-year-old victim inside, police said. The driver and the victim got into an argument and more shots were fired, injuring the 16-year-old, police said.
Three suspects were arrested in connection with the case. All three were 15 years old at the time.
From February 2023: 2 more suspects arrested in deadly shooting, carjacking of teen in Loveland
Prosecutors said Zamora is the only suspect who has pleaded guilty as an adult.
"Transferring juveniles into the adult system is extremely rare in the 8th Judicial District, but may be the best option when looking at the severity of a crime," prosecutors said in a news release. "This process allows us to hold defendants more accountable for serious crimes than in the juvenile system."
"While we see the tragic results of gun violence far too frequently, the random and senseless nature of this murder truly shocks the conscious,” District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said in the release. “We are heartbroken for Nasier's family and the other victims of this crime, and I am thankful to our prosecution team for helping them move closer to justice today.”
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