A California man who was 16 when he participated in a botched robbery-turned-homicide has been sentenced to 40-years-to-life in state prison.
Zachery Goodwin, now 20, was one of four people convicted in the fatal shooting of 59-year-old Michael Der Vartanian of Clovis in 2016.
The Fresno Bee reports Judge John Vogt wrestled with whether to grant leniency to Goodwin because of his age and childhood hardships. In the end the judge determined public safety outweighed other factors. On Friday he gave prosecutors the sentence they sought.
Der Vartanian’s wife and mother said no amount of remorse for poor decision-making can bring back their loved one. They also wanted the 40-to-life maximum.
All four co-defendants were teens when the crime happened. The others received sentences between four and 11 years.