DENVER – An 18-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a murder charge for shooting and killing another teenager when he was 16 was sentenced earlier this month to 30 years in prison.
Edgar Hernandez-Flores, 18, was sentenced Sept. 16 after he pleaded guilty in May to one count of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 16-year-old Jeremy Jamaal Rudolph on March 18, 2019.
The two were both 16 at the time and were students at Colorado Early College. According to prosecutors, the two were in different groups of friends who had an ongoing dispute between one another.
The shooting happened when Rudolph and friends came upon Hernandez-Flores near Tollgate Creek. Hernandez-Flores fired 14 rounds, according to prosecutors, and hit Rudolph in the head. He died after being transported to a hospital.
Hernandez-Flores pleaded guilty on May 24 to one count of second-degree murder.
“For whatever reason, this defendant thought it was a good idea to have a loaded gun with him that day,” said District Attorney John Kellner. “Because he chose to fire it into a group of teenagers, one of those young men is dead. Taking a gun to a fight is never a good idea. This defendant is serving a lengthy time in prison because of his choices and his actions.”