A 17-year-old Casa Grande boy convicted of murdering his girlfriend's father will get a chance at parole one day.
In Pima County Superior Court on Monday, Judge Howard Hantman had to decide whether to give Jose Carlos Cruz life without parole or a life sentence with parole possible after 25 years.
Hantman chose the latter sentence on the advice of the attorneys for both sides and after reading a report by a pediatric psychologist.
The judge also gave Cruz concurrent sentences totaling 14 years for burglarizing the victim's house and stealing his car.
According to a psychological report submitted by Cruz's attorney, Lorilee Gates, Cruz has an IQ of 72, reads below the third-grade level and functions at a fifth-grade level in math. Cruz's mental deficiencies prevent him from weighing the consequences of his actions, and he also suffers from auditory and visual hallucinations, the report states.
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Gates told Hantman that Cruz's age and mental capacity warranted giving Cruz a chance at parole one day.
According to court testimony, Cruz stabbed Lauro Garcia 17 times because he felt Garcia was taking too long to die from a beating he suffered at the hands of his daughter, Linda Garcia, then 21.
Prosecutor Kellie Johnson told jurors during opening statements in Cruz's June trial that on Dec. 22, 2004, Lauro Garcia kicked Cruz, then 16, out of his house for a second time after finding him hiding inside.
Garcia, a 55-year-old grandfather of 12, was found dead on the floor of his bedroom the next day, and police immediately realized his truck and Linda Garcia were missing.
Tucson police tracked Linda Garcia and Cruz to Cruz's parents' home after learning the two had been stopped by Eloy police while driving Lauro Garcia's truck.
Two of Cruz's cousins ultimately told police they helped Linda Garcia and Cruz vandalize the truck and set it on fire. They also told detectives that the pair had confessed to stabbing Lauro Garcia, beating him with a baseball bat, and stealing money and personal belongings from the home.
The older Garcia's blood was found on Cruz's tennis shoes, despite Cruz's contention that he never went back inside the house after being kicked out.
Linda Garcia is scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 15.
Cruz, when given the opportunity to speak, declined to do so.
