A Littleton man who shot and killed a 13-year-old in the neighboring city of Englewood in 2019 has been sentenced to 32 years in prison by an Arapahoe County District Court judge, according to a press release Monday.
Antonio Pulido Mendez, 19, is the final suspect to be sentenced in a murder case that inolved him and three other accomplices meeting with the 13-year-old, Jonah Hirsh, and Hirsh’s 18-year-old cousin in an alley in Englwood on July 14, 2019.
According to police, Hirsh and his cousin had met with the four to sell them $250 worth of LSD. But the four had set up the drug deal, which took place near the 3600 block of the South Acoma Street/South Bannock Street alley, in order to rob Hirsh and his cousin who they believed were “easy targets” according to police.
Hirsh got into the four’s vehicle and one of the suspects put a handgun close to Hirsh’s chest. Hirsh grabbed the gun and got out of the vehicle, according to police, before Mendez shot Hirsh in the arm and the chest and shot his cousin in the neck with a 9mm handgun. Hirsh died on scene and his cousin survived.
“The intent was never to buy drugs — it was to rob the victims, who were not armed,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Daniel Warhola in a press release. “Jonah was shot through both lungs and his heart. What this defendant did is not allowed, cannot be tolerated and must be punished.”
On Aug. 3 of this year, Mendez pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. He was sentenced by judge Elizabeth Weishaupl on Nov. 9.
“What brought us here is a tragedy — poor choices, poor decisions, and now consequences for those,” said Judge Weishaupl in a press release.
Mendez’s three accomplices have already been sentenced, according to the district attorney’s office.
Marcus Antonio Montez, 19, of Centennial had planned the crime. On June 17, 2020, he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. He was sentenced Aug. 10, 2020, to 20 years in prison.
Jesus Perez Medrano, 21, of Centennial, was the driver. He pleaded guilty on June 17, 2020, to one count of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery and was sentenced Aug. 10, 2020, to 18 years in prison.
The last suspect was sentenced to seven years in the Youthful Offender System.