Life Term For Defendant In Assault Rifle Killing
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A St. Paul man accused of using an AK-47 assault rifle to gun down another man in a dispute over a cell phone has been sentenced to life in prison.
Twenty-one-year-old Aaron Morrow was earlier found guilty of first-degree murder in the September 2010, shooting of Joe Anthony Rivera.
Ramsey County District Judge John Guthmann imposed the mandatory sentence Tuesday.
Morrow was also convicted of shooting at two other men during the attack. Rivera's nephew, David Chavez, was wounded. Chavez told police that he and Rivera had been at a party where a friend of Morrow accused Chavez of stealing his cellphone. Chavez said when he and Rivera left the party Morrow approached them and opened fire. The St. Paul Pioneer Press says police found the cellphone on the floor of the room where the party had been.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
