Utah smoke shop killer sentenced to life without parole

A Utah judge has ordered the man who shot and killed a Salt Lake City smoke shop clerk in 2012 to spend the rest of his life in prison. Convicted on one count of first-degree felony aggravated murder last month, the sentence of life without the possibility of parole for Yelfris Sosa-Hurtado was handed down Monday by 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg.

The judge's other choice was 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole, in connection with the March 14, 2012 shooting death of 26-year-old Stephen Guadalupe Chavez.

Lindberg also ordered a prison term of one to 15 years for Sosa-Hurtado's conviction on one second-degree felony count of discharge of a firearm, which is to be served consecutive to the life sentence, and terms of up to five years on each of eight other third-degree felony gun charges.

"I see no evidence that at any point you have accepted responsibility for your actions," Lindberg told Sosa-Hurtado before handing down the sentence. "You frighten me — the fact that you could do what you did in such a brutal and cold-hearted way."

Lindberg said she had wrestled over the decision and that letters written to her on behalf of Sosa-Hurtado by his wife, mother and others paint a picture of a loving, compassionate and helpful person. But that wasn't the person that Lindberg said she saw in court.

"I have to believe the person I have seen in front of me. I have to believe the evidence the jury believed," she said. "You chose to throw away your life. I think the risk that you present is too great."

Sosa-Hurtado plans to appeal his November conviction, defense attorney Ralph Dellapiana said Monday.

During a six-day trial, defense attorneys argued the case was one of mistaken identity, with prosecutors relying not on DNA or fingerprint evidence, but on the inconsistent witness descriptions of the alleged shooter.

Testifying on his own behalf, Sosa-Hurtado said he had never been to the CJ Smoke Shop, 876 W. 800 South, and was at a friend's home in Kearns at the time of the 8 p.m. shooting.

The jury of four men and four women, however, sided with prosecutors who said Sosa-Hurtado took an assault rifle to the tiny neighborhood store to settle a score and shot Chavez at close range because the clerk had bested him in a fistfight.

Chavez was shot twice in the back as he lay on the floor behind a counter as his father, shop owner Isabel Chavez, and several customers looked on.

Sosa-Hurtado fired another 10 shots as he fled the store. Investigators later found a rifle shell in the garbage at Sosa-Hurtado's home that matched those found at the store.

Sosa-Hurtado told the court Monday: "I just want to tell Mr. [Isabel] Chavez that I am very sorry for his loss."

Sosa-Hurtado showed no emotion throughout Monday's hearing. His wife and mother, however, both sat through the hearing with tears streaming down their faces.

When the crime occurred, Sosa-Hurtado was a senior at the University of Utah poised to graduate with a degree in computer science, according to one of his defense attorneys.

Key testimony in the case came from Vladimir Suarez-Campos, the onetime friend of Sosa-Hurtado, whom police initially said served as the killer's getaway driver.

On the stand, Suarez-Campos said he had gone to the smoke shop expecting to defend his friend's honor in a fight, but instead watched in horror as Sosa-Hurtado walked into the store with a rifle and opened fire.

"He never told me that he had a weapon and he never said anything about shooting," said Suarez-Campos, who testified that he fled the store on foot.

Suarez-Campos testified as part of a deal with prosecutors, which saw him avoid a murder charge in connection with the shooting. Instead, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree felony manslaughter, second-degree felony counts of obstructing justice and felony discharge of a firearm.

Suarez-Campos, 40, was also scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, but due to inaccuracies with his pre-sentence report his sentencing was continued to Feb. 4.

jdobner@sltrib.com