Juvenile Only Gets 30 Days In Prison Despite Murder Charges

A 17-year-old teenager will only serve 30 days behind bars despite the heinous crime that he committed in 2018.

Santiago Armijo is one of two teens who are involved in the murder of Larry DeSantiago, said Fox News. Witnesses told authorities that DeSantiago, 25, chased Armijo and his friend, 16-year-old Jeremiah De La Pena towards the top of a hill in a park in Albuquerque.

Armijo then shot DeSantiago in the chest and yelled, “that's what you get!” The victim later died in the hospital, while the juveniles were arrested in a nearby neighorhood.

Police also found a gun in De La Pena's jacket, said the Albuquerque Journal.

Albuquerque District Court judge Cristina Jaramillo ordered Thursday that Armijo will serve 30 days in juvenile prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, one misdemeanor count of unlawful possession of a handgun and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, according to Fox News.

Despite the fact that Jaramillo could have placed Armijo to a juvenile detention center until he turns 21, the judge decided to favor “treatment over incarceration.” As part of his sentence, Armijo will also be under supervised probation until he is 21 and is required to speak at high schools about his crimes and its corresponding consequences.

With prosecutors asking for the maximum sentence, Jaramillo told DeSantiago's family that her “hands were tied” considering that the maximum sentence that she could give is four years in juvenile detention.

“I can only do so much, but, whatever I do, it will not bring back Larry. It will not heal your hearts or the hole that's left in your hearts. There's nothing that I can say or do that will help that,” she said.

Larry's sister, Judith DeSantiago, considered the light sentence as a “slap in the face.”

She pointed that what Armijo did “devalued human life” and it allowed the youth to see that they can get away with almost anything – including murder – since “they won't be held accountable for their actions.”

“It also demonstrated why this generation is acting out in our community the way they do, and that's because our juvenile laws in the state cater to them,” she said.

Prosecutor Natalie Strub meanwhile opined that Armijo showed no remorse for human life and shared a text message between him and De La Pena about staging a robbery.

“This isn't drug possession or a car theft. This is the most serious charge, taking the life of another person,” she said, adding that even the maximum sentence of four years is still not enough.

“It's not justice, but it's something, and that's what the state's asking for,” said Strub.

De La Pena has pleaded in the case but has yet to be sentenced.