Springdale teen Manzano sentenced for drive-by shooting

Jaime Manzano
Jaime Manzano

FAYETTEVILLE -- A Springdale teen charged as an adult in connection with a drive-by shooting in 2018 pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison Thursday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court.

Jaime Eduardo Manzano, 19, pleaded guilty to unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle in a deal with prosecutors. Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor sentenced Manzano to 15 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with seven years suspended.

Manzano has been in jail since Nov. 18, 2019, when he was arrested after failing to appear for court. He received credit for that time served.

He also pleaded guilty to battery of a jailer and was sentenced to 72 months on that charge, to run concurrently.

Charges of committing a terroristic act, theft by receiving and misdemeanor fleeing were dismissed as part of the plea.

Three other teens were charged as juveniles in the case. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and juvenile court proceedings.

The shooting happened Aug. 24, 2018, on Trudi Street in Springdale. Manzano was 17 at the time.

Manzano fired several rounds from a car at a home and at individuals outside the home and was in possession of a stolen firearm, according to court documents. No one was injured.

Three Hispanic juveniles in a gray BMW were arrested while fleeing the area, according to a news release from police at the time. A firearm was found in the car, police said. Two other juveniles who were no longer in the car were arrested later.

The back window of a red GMC Yukon was shot during the incident, according to the news release.

The shooting came a day after Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez was convicted of being an accomplice to the killing of 20-year-old Jimmy Rodriguez in a drive-by shooting on Savage Street in Springdale on April 11, 2015. Vasquez-Sanchez was the driver.

Manzano was identified in court testimony as being a passenger in the car when Rodolfo Martinez shot Rodriquez. Manzano was 13, too young to be charged as an adult at the time.

Martinez, 21, was convicted in August 2017 of capital murder, two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of committing a terroristic act. Martinez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vasquez-Sanchez, 21, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for accomplice to first-degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

The other passenger, Jose Andrew Delatorre, 21, pleaded guilty in September 2017 to accomplice to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years.

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