A young man, identified as 21-year-old Terrance Santistevan, has received a life sentence for the 2022 murders of two teenagers, 18-year-old Leslie Cota and 17-year-old Danielle Murrieta, in Casa Grande. ABC15 reports that the Pinal County Attorney's Office announced Santistevan's sentence of two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, after a jury convicted him on two counts of first-degree murder last month.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, the tragic incident unfolded at an apartment complex near Florence Boulevard and Pottenbaum Road in Casa Grande. Cota was found dead at the scene, while Murrieta succumbed to her wounds in a Phoenix-area hospital. Santistevan's motivation was reportedly linked to unpaid debts from a human smuggling operation he was involved in with another individual.
Additional details emerged, indicating the seriousness of the crime. The prosecution described the murders as "calculated, cold-blooded" and noted Santistevan's use of a Glock handgun modified to fire fully automatic, discharging over two dozen rounds. The intensity of the crime was evident in the number of shots fired and the lethal modifications made to the weapon used.
Following the incident, a coordinated law enforcement effort led to Santistevan's arrest in Texas. Authorities, including the Casa Grande Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Pflugerville Police Department, collaborated effectively to apprehend the suspect north of Austin. The Pinal County Prosecutor expressed gratitude to the families and everyone involved in delivering justice. In the words of a victim's impact statement obtained by ABC15, "There is no victory in the loss of two innocent lives. Nothing about this moment is victorious when two beautiful girls were taken from this world in the most horrific way. This isn’t victory, this is merely the bare minimum one should expect for a remorseless individual that has shattered families and left us with nothing but memories to replay and the heartache of a lifetime."
