Mohammad Hussain Ataei has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a 25-year-old petrol station worker in Glendale, Arizona, with the possibility of release after 25 years.
A judge also credited Ataei with the three-and-a-half years he has already spent in custody. He pleaded guilty on 31 August to first-degree felony murder and first-degree burglary under a plea agreement.
Glendale petrol station murder
Irma Rivera-Martinez was shot at a Chevron station near 51st Avenue and Glendale Avenue on 21 April 2023. Police said she had just entered the convenience store when a man dressed in black and wearing a mask approached her and fired about ten times.
Investigators described the killing as a targeted attack. Security footage and other evidence led detectives to Ataei, who was 20 when he was arrested at a home in Avondale.
Police said a search of the property uncovered the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting, along with clothing Ataei was allegedly wearing on the night of the murder.
At his sentencing, Ataei expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness, saying he wished he could undo what had happened.
Members of both families addressed the court. One of Ataei’s parents asked for leniency, while a relative of Rivera-Martinez spoke of the lasting loss caused by the killing and the fact that she would never see her daughter again.
The case brings the legal proceedings over Rivera-Martinez’s death to a close more than three years after the shooting at the Glendale petrol station.
