COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A Fort Carson soldier convicted Wednesday of killing two people with an AK-47 and of wounding a soldier in two drive-by shootings last year will face a mandatory life sentence without parole.
Iraq war veteran Jomar Falu-Vives, 25, was convicted of first-degree murder in the shootings of Amairany Cervantes, 18, and Cesar Ramirez-Ibanez, 20, as they posted yard sale signs last year.
His gun was used in the shootings, but Falu-Vives’ attorneys had argued that he did not pull the trigger.
Jurors also convicted Falu-Vives of attempted murder in another drive-by shooting last year that wounded Army Lt. Zachary A. Szody as he stood on a street corner with another soldier.
Former soldier Rudy Torres-Gandarilla testified that he saw Falu-Vives open fire with his AK-47 in both drive-by shootings. Torres-Gandarilla pleaded guilty to being an accessory to those crimes and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Falu-Vivies was to be sentenced Thursday.
Falu-Vives was a scout in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry, part of Fort Carson’s 4th Brigade Combat Team. The infantry battalion of 500 soldiers, which nicknamed itself the “Lethal Warriors,” has seen heavy violence after being sent to Iraq, then Afghanistan. The battalion has accounted for about half of Fort Carson’s combat losses.
Many in the unit have not committed crimes, but from the fall of 2007 to the fall of 2008, the murder rate for the unit was 114 times the rate for Colorado Springs.
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Information from: The Gazette,
