Rafael Soto Alvarez is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. today in Tucson in the 2008 killing of James Noriega, who was 20 when he was shot at a southside house party.
The case sat for nearly 18 years before an April arrest and a guilty plea. Alvarez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit manslaughter in Noriega's death, KOLD reported, and the hearing was set for this afternoon.
A House Party On The South Side
Noriega was shot and killed on Nov. 2, 2008, at a house party on Tucson's south side. KVOA reported he was 20. KOLD reported he was hit five times.
That is the shooting Alvarez's plea addresses. The charge he admitted is conspiracy to commit manslaughter, not a finding reached at trial.
An Arrest After Nearly 18 Years
On April 27, the Tucson Police Department said cold-case detectives had made an arrest in the killing of 20-year-old James A. Noriega. The department's post, on X
, described it as a cold-case homicide arrest and pointed readers to a news release.
KVOA reported that the Cold Case Unit got a significant break in late April in a case dating back almost 18 years. Alvarez is the man who later pleaded guilty in connection with that shooting, according to KOLD. The police post did not name him.
A Small Desk And A Long File
The unit that worked the case is not a large bureau. KVOA described it as a sergeant, two detectives, a community service officer, and volunteers. Two retired detectives recently returned as reserves to help with casework.
A Tucson police detective told KVOA that years, if not decades, can pass with few answers before investigators turn up new clues. Noriega's file followed that pattern: a November 2008 shooting, a late-April break, then a plea reported in September.
Two Pleas, One Afternoon On The Calendar
The homicide plea and a second admission are separate. KOLD reported that Alvarez also pleaded guilty to vehicle theft in a 2026 case. That theft case is not the southside shooting, and the reporting sets today's 1:30 p.m. sentencing in the Noriega case.
News 4 Tucson said it would have a crew at the hearing to report what happens. The scheduled time is 1:30 p.m.
