BENTONVILLE -- A Rogers man will spend at least the next 50 years in prison for killing his former girlfriend.
Jose Alonso Torres pointed a gun at his longtime girlfriend, the mother of his 1-year-old daughter, according to court documents. Then, prosecutors said, he pulled the trigger once. A few moments later, the gun was fired twice more into the passenger side of the Chevrolet Tahoe where Norma Salinas sat.
Torres, 27, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. He was charged with an enhancement for committing a crime in the presence of children. His daughter was in the back seat.
Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green accepted Torres' guilty plea and sentenced him to 72 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He will have to serve at least 50 years before he will be eligible for parole.
Torres was originally charged with capital murder.
He admitted to shooting and killing Salinas, 24, while she sat in a Chevrolet Tahoe at a mobile-home park at North Bloomington Road and Fullerton Avenue in Lowell on April 3.
Torres and Salinas had been in a relationship for five years, but family members told police Salinas had been trying to end it, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
Torres was trying to get in the Tahoe, but the doors were locked, according to the affidavit. Ivan Salinas, Norma Salinas' brother, told police he stepped in and told Torres to leave his sister alone.
Ivan Salinas said he tried to push Torres away, but Torres pulled a gun with his right hand and pointed it at him. Then Torres turned and fired one shot through the Tahoe's passenger window, hitting Norma Salinas, her brother said.
Ivan Salinas and Torres struggled over the weapon again before Torres fired two more shots through the passenger window, according to the affidavit.
Areli Soto, Ivan Salinas' girlfriend, was in the driver's seat of the Tahoe.
Metro on 03/19/2019