In motel stabbing, teen's plea is guilty

Springdale clash left man, 21, dead

FAYETTEVILLE -- A Rogers teen pleaded guilty Friday to fatally stabbing a young man during a fight last year at a Springdale motel.

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Hector Trejo, 18, of Rogers stabbed Eliazar Torres, 21, three times, including twice in the neck, on Jan. 10, 2016, at Scottish Inns & Suites, 1219 S. Thompson St.

Torres died two days later at Northwest Medical Center in Springdale.

Trejo, who was 17 at the time of the stabbing, was charged as an adult.

Trejo pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced by Washington County Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor to 40 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction, with 12 years and eight months suspended.

Trejo also pleaded guilty to aggravated residential burglary and was sentenced to 30 years suspended. Trejo was ordered to have no contact with the victim's family. He was given credit for 381 days of jail time served.

Trejo must serve at least 70 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for parole, according to Shane Kerr, deputy prosecutor. He should be subject to deportation upon release from prison because he is not a U.S. citizen.

"After considering the aggravating and mitigating factors, I feel we reached a fair and just resolution to this case," Kerr said.

Kerr said a major factor was Trejo's age.

Trejo faced 10 to 40 years or life in prison had he not taken the plea bargain. He originally was charged with capital murder.

Police initially arrested eight people in connection with the homicide. Trejo was the only one charged with capital murder. The others were charged with various lesser felonies.

A group of people showed up at the party looking to fight the night of the killing, according to police documents. Trejo and four others were identified as among those who broke a motel window and door to get inside the room where the fight occurred, according to police and prosecutor documents.

Springdale police arrived at the motel at 3:34 a.m. to find "large amounts of blood inside the room and near the room," according to police reports. Police later found Torres at the hospital.

Kerr said the fatal altercation was retaliation for an earlier fight that several of Trejo's co-defendants had been in. Torres had no known gang ties, according to Kerr. Springdale police said at the time of the altercation that it was not gang-related.

State Desk on 02/04/2017

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