County Attorney will seek first-ever death penalty
Gila County will seek the death penalty for the first time in its history, announced District Attorney Bradley Beauchamp at a Gila County Republican Party meeting on Nov. 26.
“It’s in response to the triple homicide in Globe on Nov. 11,” he said.
The shooting occurred at the Jammerz Bar.
News reports say the accused shooter, 22-year old Sterling Randall Hunt, opened fire on five people after playing pool with them.
Authorities say Hunt lived in Globe and had no criminal record.
Police found Hunt on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, but say he is a member of the Navajo Tribe.
Witnesses said they saw no arguments or incidents of any kind while Hunt played pool with his victims.
Taking a break, three of the victims, 22-year old Ashley Sanchez, 20-year old Charlene Peak and 32-year old Scott Mills went to have a smoke on the back deck of the bar. Instead of joining them, Hunt went out the front.
He returned to the deck and opened fire with a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic revolver. Hunt’s attack seriously wounded Sanchez and Peak. Mills ran for cover, avoiding injury.
Hunt ran into his next two victims, 44-year old Cristi Licano and 22-year old Daniel Albo as he left the scene. First responders declared both dead by the time they arrived.
Responders flew Sanchez and Peak to trauma centers in the Valley. Four days after the shooting, Sanchez succumbed to her injuries.
Reports say Peak remains in stable condition.
Beauchamp told the Gila County Republicans he decided to seek the death penalty because ‘I don’t agree with three natural life sentences...you can only give one natural life sentence.’
Beauchamp said the decision to seek the death penalty comes at a cost “That triggers a bunch of disclosure and…the defendant can have two attorneys,” he said.
A death penalty case in Arizona not only has extra expense in the preparation phase it requires a 12-person jury to unanimously decide on a sentence of death. The State of Arizona has 10 reasons a prosecutor may seek the death penalty, including the commission of multiple homicides.
Beauchamp told the Republicans the case has cast a pall over Globe.
“It just a tragedy,” he said, “The atmosphere in Globe and Miami…I have never felt that in all the years I have lived there.”
What made the crime even more tragic to Beauchamp, he knew everyone involved except for the shooter.
“I knew the 44-year old pretty well,” he said, “I knew the younger because of coaching baseball.”
He said his deputy would try the case.
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