DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Another Iowa teenager was sentenced Monday to life in prison for a fatal 2022 drive-by shooting near Des Moines East High School.
Alex Santiago Perdomo, 17, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder. He was 15 at the time of the shooting, according to the Polk County prosecutor, who said Perdomo will have a chance at parole. His public defense attorneys did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment Monday.
Police say Perdomo was among 10 teens ages 14 to 18 armed with at least six guns who drove in multiple vehicles to a neighborhood near East High School, only a half mile from the Iowa Capitol. The specifics of their plan aren’t clear, but police say the teens were out to settle a grudge and fired on Jose Lopez, his sister, one of her friends and two other teens standing on a sidewalk nearby.
The gunfire hit Lopez, his sister and their friend, killing Lopez and seriously wounding the girls.
Perdomo is the second teenager in the group to receive a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. A third teen who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder will be sentenced next year, after he turns 18, prosecutors said.
Four others who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder received sentences ranging from 20 to 70 years in prison. One member of the group who pleaded guilty to providing a pistol or revolver to a person under 21 received a suspended sentence of four years.
The other two remaining defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison on various other charges.
FILE - Police investigate a fatal shooting outside of East High School in in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 7, 2022. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Des Moines Register via AP, File)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Rafael formed Monday in the Caribbean and will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening into a hurricane and likely hitting Cuba, forecasters said.
Later in the week it also is expected to bring heavy rainfall to Florida and portions of the U.S. Southeast, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Jamaica, and a hurricane watch was in effect for the Cayman Islands and for parts of Cuba including the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, and the Isle of Youth. A tropical storm watch was issued for Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, and Las Tunas in Cuba.
A tropical storm watch also was issued for the lower and middle Florida Keys from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge, and for the Dry Tortugas.
The storm was located about 150 miles (245 kilometers) south of Kingston, Jamaica. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) while moving north-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph), the center said.
The storm was expected to move near Jamaica late Monday, be near or over the Cayman Islands late Tuesday as a hurricane and approach Cuba on Wednesday.
Most forecasts show the storm peaking as a Category 1 hurricane, “but conditions over the next few days will favor strengthening so we’ll need to monitor how quickly it organizes, and a stronger hurricane can’t be ruled out,” wrote Michael Lowry, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert, in an analysis Monday.
On Monday morning, the government of the Cayman Islands offered people sandbags and announced schools would close on Tuesday.
“Residents are urged to take immediate precautions to protect themselves and their properties,” the government said in a statement.
Schools in Jamaica also were scheduled to close on Tuesday, with government offices closing on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Observer newspaper reported a large landslide in a rural area north of the Kingston capital on Sunday that officials blamed on persistent rains ahead of the potential storm. No injuries were reported, but a couple of communities were left isolated.
Heavy rainfall will affect the western Caribbean with totals of 3 to 6 inches (7 to 15 centimeters) and up to 9 inches (23 cm) expected locally in Jamaica and parts of Cuba. Flooding and mudslides are possible.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.
On the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Patty dissipated.
Storm in the Caribbean is on a track to likely hit Cuba as a hurricane
This satellite image provided by NOAA shows weather systems Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (NOAA via AP)
Storm in the Caribbean is on a track to likely hit Cuba as a hurricane
