On Monday, George Alonzo Renteria, 30, of Sacaton, Ariz., and a member of the Gila River Indian Community, was sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree murder, with a consecutive sentence of ten years for committing the murder with a firearm.
Renteria had previously been convicted at a jury trial of first degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.
On Feb. 17, 2014, Renteria shot and killed a fellow member of the Gila River Indian Community. Renteria encountered the victim in Chandler, Ariz., and convinced him to get into a car Renteria was driving. Renteria then drove the victim to a deserted field on the Gila River Indian Community and shot him to death with a handgun. Renteria was in the midst of a violent crime spree, having perpetrated a vehicle theft and an armed home invasion in the hours leading up to the murder.
During the trial, the victim was described by fellow community members as a gentle, well-liked, and kind-hearted man who went out of his way to help those around him. Renteria, on the other hand, is a longtime member of a street gang with a violent criminal history. At the time he murdered the victim, Renteria was on federal supervised release for a prior robbery conviction.