A now 23-year-old man was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to fatally shooting the mother of a teenager he had planned to rob at a home in Socorro four years ago, the El Paso District Attorney’s Office said.
Carlos Alberto Sifuentes, then 18 years old, was convicted of firing a gunshot through a window, fatally striking Azul Jade Ruiz, 43, in the chest inside her home on the night of Feb. 12, 2022, according to a prosecutor at past court hearings.
Sifuentes, of Socorro, pleaded guilty to a murder charge and was sentenced to 35 years in prison by Judge Alyssa Perez of the 210th District Court on Tuesday, May 19, court records showed.
He will receive credit for the more than four years (1,557 days) he spent jailed awaiting trial.
Sifuentes had initially faced a charge of capital murder, which is punishable by the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
“Jade Ruiz’s family has waited years for justice. We are grateful to the prosecutors and investigators who stayed with this case until it was resolved,” El Paso District Attorney James Montoya said in a statement. “This conviction reflects our office’s continued commitment to holding violent offenders accountable, no matter how long it takes.”
Socorro mom killed by teen trying to rob her son
Sifuentes had a conflict with Ruiz’s then 18-year-old son and had threatened him in the past, an assistant district attorney had said on a bond hearing for Sifuentes in 2022.
An investigation by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit found that Sifuentes had planned to rob Ruiz’s son and was interrupted when Ruiz came to the back door of the home and he fired a single, deadly gunshot, stated a Tuesday, May 19, news release by El Paso District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Andra Litton.
During the 2022 bond hearing, an assistant district attorney had said that security cameras recorded Sifuentes late on the night of Feb. 12, 2022, outside of Cruz’s home in the 200 block of Isabel Way in Socorro.
Sifuentes was filmed crouching and looking around before entering the backyard when he went to the back door and fired one round through a window, shooting Cruz in the chest, according to prosecution at the 2022 hearing.
In addition to the security video, investigators found Sifuentes’ fingerprints on one of the cars parked at the family’s home.
Convicted murderer had juvenile shooting conviction
The prosecution had previously revealed that the homicide occurred while Sifuentes was under supervised release after being convicted of shooting two people as a juvenile.
In April 2020 in juvenile court, Sifuentes was given an eight-year sentence on two counts of aggravated assault. He had been released from juvenile detention when he turned 18 in 2021.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Man convicted of murder, sentenced in shooting death of Socorro mom
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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