Tucson teen acquitted of negligent homicide in Mt. Lemmon shooting

Deputy Pima County Attorney Carolyn Nedder had sought a negligent homicide conviction for Marisela Romero, 19, a conviction that could have resulted in as many as eight years in prison or a probationary term.

Defense attorney Chris Kimminau called Rene Carrillo's death a "tragic, unfortunate and avoidable accident."

On Sept. 10, 2010, Carrillo went camping with friends on Mount Lemmon, with people bringing food, drinks and at least three guns.

At one point, Romero and another of the partygoers went to bed in a tent, but Carrillo and others wanted the pair to continue partying, Nedder and Kimminau agreed. Members of the group threw rocks at the tent and repeatedly cajoled them to come back to the campfire, which they did.

Carrillo and others teased Romero and the boy so much that Romero became testy and said, "If I had a gun, I would shoot you," the attorneys said. Carrillo got a gun, gave it to Romero and sat down across a campfire from her on a log. Moments later, a shot rang out and Carrillo was fatally wounded.

The group called 911 and one of the campers angrily told Romero to leave. She did, and was later found by a deputy walking down a road with a blanket draped around her.

On Thursday, jurors watched Romero's police interview in which she tearfully described what happened and insisted it was an accident.

Kimminau told jurors Romero had no way to know the gun was loaded - most "reasonable" people wouldn't hand a loaded gun to someone who had just told them they would shoot them.

In addition, someone repeatedly fired an empty air pistol in Romero's face earlier that night, and she merely felt the air rushing past her, Kimminau said.

Last, Romero and even the owner of the gun thought the hammer had to be pulled back for the gun to discharge. Neither realized the gun could discharge merely by pulling the trigger.

Judge Clark Munger presided over the trial.

Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com