PAINESVILLE, Ohio — A 23-year-old Painesville man will spend at least 25 years behind bars after fatally shooting a teenager in Downtown Willoughby last summer.
The family of Isaac Cabrera, a 17-year-old rising junior at Madison High School, said Cabrera called Fernando Alejo his friend, and they don't understand why the killing happened.
The fatal shooting occurred last summer when Cabrera was out with Alejo, and Alejo shot and killed Cabrera in an alley outside a bar. Willoughby police said they received a 911 call around 12:30 Saturday morning saying someone was shot in the alley near 4066 Erie Street.
A jury convicted Alejo of murder, tampering with evidence and illegally possessing a firearm inside a business where liquor was served.
"Ever since he's passed, my heart has had a terrible ache," Isaac's sister Kayla Cabrera said. "For someone to say this is self-defense just doesn't make sense to me because he had multiple chances to do the right thing. If he did this to his friend, somebody he called a brother, he would do this to anybody on the street."
Cabrera's girlfriend, Jovanna Romo, said: "It was one of my favorite things to do: listening to his heartbeat because I could not believe God brought him into my life. So when his heart stopped beating, mine had trouble beating too."
Watch Judge Patrick Condon's sentencing:
The judge sentenced Alejo to prison for the following charges:
- 1 count of illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premises: three years
- 1 count of murder: 15 years to life, plus three years due to the gun specification
- 1 count of tampering with evidence: three years, plus one year due to the gun specification
Alejo was caught and arrested after driving through Indiana later that day after the shooting:
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Other than a couple of words, Alejo remained quiet throughout the proceedings.
"You made choices: the choice to drink in the bar with a 17-year-old, the choice you made in the 30 seconds between shots and that choice was to execute a defenseless 17-year-old," Judge Patrick Condon said.
Alejo's attorney said he plans to appeal the verdict.
