The killer of a 19-year-old who police said was doing “nothing wrong” when he was gunned down last summer pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.
Alex Ramos Bencomo, 22, pleaded guilty Friday. He was ordered into custody without bail to await sentencing at 9 a.m. May 4.
His trial, on a charge of second-degree murder, was to have begun Monday.
The victim, Joshua Parsons, was at a Circle K at 1410 W. Ajo Way at about 1:15 a.m. Aug. 17 talking with friends when he was shot for no apparent reason, Tucson police said.
Police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said at the time the teen had a reputation as a “good kid” and had “done nothing wrong.”
Bencomo fled the scene of the shooting, police said. As part of the plea, Bencomo admitted to shooting Parsons.
Last month, the Pima County Attorney’s Office filed a notice of “aggravating factors” in the case for a Pima County Superior Court judge to consider.
The notice, based mostly on Bencomo’s recorded jail conversations, highlights Bencomo’s “utter contempt for the criminal justice system” and his “complete lack of remorse,” according to Lewis Brandes, the prosecutor in the case.