A Mesa teenager accused of killing his girlfriend's mother has been sentenced to 22 years in prison after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Maricopa County Superior Court announced Friday that Judge Joseph Welty sentenced Braden Rockriver for second-degree murder and disorderly conduct.
Rockriver must also serve five years of supervised probation for assault when he's released from prison.
Police had alleged that Rockriver took his father's gun from a closet and went to his girlfriend's house in August 2011 intending to either kill himself, or kill his girlfriend and then commit suicide.
After a struggle, police said the gun discharged and the girl's mother, 42-year-old Denna Strebe, was shot. She was later pronounced dead at a Scottsdale hospital.
Rockriver had fled but was captured two hours after the shooting.
gmgafh posted at 7:37 am on Sat, Dec 1, 2012.
What happened to charging him with first-degree murder? 22 years is not long enough. He took the life the of a wife and mother of 4. A mother who was trying to protect her family. This is unbelievable. It should have been a longer sentence. I pray for the Strebe family, as well as the parents of Rockriver.
Juggernaut8000 posted at 2:06 pm on Fri, Dec 7, 2012.
The reason is because the State doens't want to spend the time to convict him of beat 1 homicide. It clearly was first degree, but the cheaper conviction the better if you are the prosecutor. Its all about money.
What they love is DUI cases that bring in tens of thousands of dollars into the courts and costs very little to prosecute. Why do you think there is so many DUI arrests in Arizona? People need to drive, so they go to court, pay the fines and so forth. A murderer will be in jail for a long time and therefore bring in no cash to the State.