Fresno man sentenced for shooting, killing his ex girlfriend with somebody else's gun
During a tense hearing and after hours of delays, a convicted killer learned his sentence on Wednesday.
Jose Contreras will now serve 25 years to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Zoe Salinas, in 2023.
"It's hard for me to talk about what this has done to me," Salinas' sister, Savannah, said as she remembered their bond.
Salinas was 18 when investigators say her ex took someone else's gun, loaded it, and then shot her in a car.
"I'm not here today to give forgiveness but to speak the truth, and the truth is Zoe was not yours to take," Salinas' aunt, Laura, said.
She wanted to set the record straight.
"The truth is Zoe broke him with her words, and he couldn't handle it," she said. "Zoe was done with him, and instead of being a man or acting like an adult, he responded in a cowardly, pathetic, weak - like a weak little boy."
The comments from the victim's loved ones -- and later prosecutors -- all led to a response from the defense attorney.
"There are many underlying facts, which were not mentioned by the people, which are well within their knowledge and they know to be proven," defense attorney Roger Bonakdar said.
His client, Contreras, pleaded no contest to murder last month and offered a full apology on Wednesday.
But as his sentencing was set to begin Wednesday morning, delays plagued the hearing. Attorneys huddled in the courtroom for hours, appearing to work out final details.
The judge later said Contreras' sentence is fitting.
"The most I can do is sentence Mr. Contreras in such a way that he understands that his life is not being taken away, but a large chunk of it is," Fresno County Superior Court Judge Arlan Harrell said.
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