EVERETT — Pedro Montero showed no remorse after shooting a man to death north of Lynnwood in 2017, prosecutors said Friday.
The death of Alexander Song, 22, was the result of bad decision after bad decision by Montero, prosecutors argued in Snohomish County Superior Court. They said the defendant, 20, chose to be involved in a violent gang, chose to carry a loaded gun and chose to fire the gun at a group of strangers, hitting one in the chest.
Montero fled the scene, according to charging papers, and afterward he tried to convince a witness that she should take the blame. When he was confronted by sheriff’s detectives, he repeatedly stated, “It’s not my body.”
Montero was sentenced to 10 years and 4 months in prison for first-degree manslaughter, the maximum under state guidelines. He was also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty to both counts April 3.
Any mitigating factors that might allow for a lower sentence “are simply not present here,” prosecutors wrote in a memorandum.
On Dec. 30, 2017, Song went with five friends to the Newberry Square apartments off Ash Way. They were there to take back a Honda Pilot. One of the friends had loaned the car to someone, who in turn loaned it to a teenage girl.
A person in the group had a machete, and Song may have been armed with a wrench, according to court documents.
They found the car near the complex around 9 p.m. Song approached the rear passenger side and knocked on the window. He was shot once, through the glass, piercing his lung and heart.
He died at the scene.
The next day, the girl told detectives that she was in the car when Montero shot Song. They abandoned the vehicle at an Everett gas station.
The defendant was not supposed to be in possession of a gun that day, as he had been convicted of a felony in 2017.
That case involved a gang-related shooting where two people were shot. Casings found at the scene apparently matched a .380-caliber semi-automatic gun detectives found in a van belonging to Montero’s mother. According to his sister’s report, Montero said he used the gun to shoot someone. Charging papers also said he was a suspect in a separate drive-by shooting.
Montero was never charged for either shooting. Instead, he was sentenced to three months in jail for unlawful possession of a firearm.
Speaking to the court on Friday, Montero apologized for Song’s death.
Attorney Phil Sayles said Montero understands what he did was wrong.
“It was a bad reaction, it was a bad choice, but it happened,” Sayles said. “I think he was scared. He knows he screwed up.”
Judge Dave Kurtz called the shooting tragic. He advised Montero to be careful who he associates with, both in prison and after he gets released, when he will still be “relatively young.”
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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