ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – A man who was convicted in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy in Englewood in 2019 will spend more than thirty years in prison.
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Elizabeth Weishaupl sentenced 19-year-old Antonio Pulido Mendez, of Littleton, to 32 years in prison last Tuesday for the death of Jonah Hirsh.
The deadly shooting occurred during a robbery attempt in an alleyway in the area of S. Bannock St. and W. Jefferson Ave. on July 14, 2019.
Mendez and three other men met Jonah and his older cousin in the alley, as the boy and his cousin expected to sell drugs to the four men. But Mendez and the other three set up the drug deal with the intent to rob Jonah and the cousin, according to authorities.
Mendez shot Jonah in the arm and the chest with a 9 mm handgun and the boy was declared dead at the scene. Mendez shot the cousin in the neck, according to court documents. Hirsh’s cousin survived.
“This defendant made reckless, stupid decisions,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Andrew Steers. “He chose to bring a loaded gun to a robbery and pull the trigger. Today he faces the consequences for his actions.”
On Aug. 3, Mendez pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
“The intent was never to buy drugs – it was to rob the victims, who were not armed,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Daniel Warhola said during sentencing. “Jonah was shot through both lungs and his heart. What this defendant did is not allowed, cannot be tolerated and must be punished.”
The three other suspects in this case were sentenced previously, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, to a combined total of 45 years in prison.