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Ogden • As Judge Ernie Jones sentenced Luciano Gabriel Silva to prison, possibly for the rest of his life, the judge told him it was his callous actions after shooting the victim in the back of the head that likely played a part in a jury finding him guilty of murder.
Even if the shooting had been in self-defense — as Silva had claimed at trial — Jones said Silva's reaction after shooting 25-year-old Horacio Mendez Sanchez was astounding.
"I just found it so callous," the judge said, "that after you would shoot a man in the back and the head and leave him on the [Weber Parkway] trail, that your response is to go home and go to bed. I was just astounded that that would be your response. Even if it was self-defense, you would think he would call somebody or do something."
After a five-day trial in October, a 2nd District Court jury found 21-year-old Silva guilty of murder, a first-degree felony, as well as possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and two counts of obstructing justice, both second-degree felonies.
Jones on Wednesday sentenced Silva to spend 16-years-to-life at the Utah State Prison for the murder, and one-to-15 year sentences on each remaining counts. He ordered the lesser sentences to run concurrent to one another, but consecutive to the murder sentence.
Silva didn't say a word during the hearing.
His attorney, Randy Richards, told the judge that his client had been shot before and had "legitimate fear" on Sept. 13, 2015 when he shot Sanchez.
But Deputy Weber County Attorney Letitia Toombs said Silva had no one to blame for the shooting but himself. She said the defendant is not remorseful, pointing to Silva's statement filed in a pre-sentence report that read, "My lawyer failed to show the jury the facts in this case, so I am sorry."
"He's not sorry that he pulled a gun and shot someone in the back of the head," Toombs said. "He's not sorry he killed Horacio Sanchez. He is sorry he is standing before you in handcuffs and looking at a very lengthy prison sentence."
Sanchez's sister, Delia Martinez, asked Jones to impose what he thought was an appropriate and just sentence.
"Not only did he kill my brother, but he also killed my father," the woman said through an interpreter. "Within a year of my brother's death, my father died because of emotional trauma."
Silva shot and killed Sanchez while the two were walking near the Weber River Parkway.
Deputy Weber County Attorney Branden Miles argued at trial that there was no justification for Silva to shoot a man he knew was unarmed. He argued that the murder may have been sparked by Sanchez listening to music that offended Silva, who was a member of the Nortenos street gang.
But defense attorney Sean Druyon argued that the shot was fired in self-defense.
Silva and Sanchez, he said, left a Riverdale home on the night of the shooting to buy drugs. When the dealer didn't show, Sanchez asked to see Silva's gun, pointed it at him and demanded his money, Druyon said.
After a brief struggle, he added, Silva knocked the gun from Sanchez's hand, grabbed it off the ground and fired it at Sanchez.