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Iowa teenager gets life in prison for fatal shooting near school
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Iowa teenager gets life in prison for fatal shooting near school

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Another Iowa teenager was sentenced Monday to life in prison for a fatal shooting in 2022 road shooting near Des Moines East High School.

Alex Santiago Perdomo, 17, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder. He was 15 at the time of the shooting, according to the Polk County District Attorney, who said Perdomo will be eligible for parole. His public defense attorneys did not immediately return calls for comment Monday.

Police say Perdomo was among 10 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18, armed with at least six guns, who drove several vehicles into a neighborhood near East High School, just a half-mile from Iowa Capitol. The specifics of their plan are unclear, but police say the teenagers wanted to settle a grudge and fired on Jose Lopez, his sister, one of her friends and two other teenagers who were sitting on a nearby sidewalk.

The fire struck Lopez, his sister and their friend, killing Lopez and serious injury the girls.

Perdomo is the second teenager in the group to receive a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A third teenager who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder will be sentenced next year when he turns 18 years, prosecutors said.

Four others who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder received sentences ranging from 20 to 70 years in prison. A member of the group who pleaded guilty to supplying a pistol or revolver to a person under 21 received a four-year suspended sentence.

The other two remaining defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison on various other charges.