Court benches are crowded with supporters of now-23-year-old Guadalupe Solis-Diaz Jr. this morning.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt found no merit in any of the arguments that he should reduce the nearly 93 year sentence he imposed on a former Centralia High School student convicted of a 2007 drive-by shooting in which nobody was killed.
Guadalupe Solis-Diaz Jr. was 16 years old when gunfire was sprayed along the east side of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, missing six bar patrons. Witnesses testified it was gang-related. Solis-Diaz maintained he was innocent.
“The sentence is precisely what the legislature intended,” Hunt said.
Solis-Diaz was back in court this morning, because the state Court of Appeals ordered the local court to conduct a new hearing, referencing various matters that should have been handled more thoroughly, given that he was a juvenile. The challenge was made in light of a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, specifically a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held a sentence of life without parole is forbidden for a juvenile who did not commit homicide.
Hunt listened to both attorneys, a juvenile psychologist and even the defendant before making his pronouncement.
“The sentence will remain unchanged, 1,111 months,” Hunt said.
The judge criticized the appeals court decision calling some of their conclusions insulting and ludicrous. He defended the original court-appointed attorney, whom the appeals judges said made a number of choices at sentencing that no reasonable attorney would have.
None of the mitigating factors raised by Solis-Diaz’s current lawyer are legally sufficient, Hunt said.
About 40 individuals looked on, many wearing T-Shirts in support of the convict, including Solis-Diaz’s mother.
“I’m not here to beg for mercy for Mr. Solis-Diaz,” defense attorney Robert Quillian told the judge. “He did what he did.”
But this is no homicide case, he said.
Quillian pointed out documents provided to the judge before this morning’s court session in which he offered a number of grounds for an exceptional sentence downward.
He asked the judge to re-sentence his client to 15 years.
Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh recommended the same sentence Solis-Diaz got the first time.
Soliz-Diaz was tried as an adult at the end of 2007 and convicted of multiple offenses, including one count of first-degree assault for each bullet that was fired.
The six assault counts were ordered to be served consecutively and each carried a mandatory extra five years because they were committed with a firearm. The sentence given was at the high end of the standard range.
Solis-Diaz, now 23, has been residing in the Lewis County Jail for more than a year, awaiting today’s hearing.
He took the judge up on his offer to speak today, saying he’s not perfect and never has been, and pointed out some of the educational accomplishments he’s made since being locked up.
“Let me show you I can be rehabilitated,” he said.
The red jail garb clad young man told the judge he prays every night, thanking God nobody got hurt. And he thanked the judge for having incarcerated him
“If I wasn’t locked up, I’d have been dead years ago,” he said.
Hunt included in his remarks that the changes in sentencing made by the state legislature were specifically to move away from rehabilitation and give more weight to accountability.
The legislative intent was expressively to curb gun violence among youth, Hunt said.
“The legislative intent is clear,” he said. “Serious violent crimes will be punished severely and older teens will be treated as adults,” he said.
Hunt said he knew he could have given an exceptional sentence downward, and chose not to.
One of the purposes of sentencing is to send a message to others, he said. And it worked in Centralia, according to Hunt.
“From the day this sentence was pronounced, there have been no similar crimes,” he said.
Quillian filed a notice of appeal.
Beigh noted she was scheduling a review hearing in 15 years, on March 5, 2029, in light of potential changes in state law.
The legislature is looking at allowing offenders who committed their crimes when under age 18 to petition the indeterminate sentencing board for release after 20 years, Beigh said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
@MAKES MORE SENSE,-ACTUALLY KIDS DONT DO THIS EITHER! AS MY 11 YR OLD WOULD NEVER DO THIS! SO I’LL SAY PUNKS DO THIS CRAP! AND @BAD,BAD,BAD—YOUR A MORON
Wish I could be there when he stands before GOD, on his judgement day. He should be in jail cor committing a crime such as this sentencing this young man to this. I agree with most that say 15 to 20. Remember there was and is a statute that said only in MURDER should a under 18 yr old get life…hmmmm.there is something mentally wrong with someone that would xo this to a 16 yr old. Remember next election..
Domino makes a good point about James Reeder. Why should a murder/rapist of a child be free before a non murdering/non child rapist? Can anyone tell me a good reason for that?
This is terrible!! I had little to no comprehension of the severity of my actions at that age. And I got into a lot of trouble including a gun charge a 16 that I received less then a month in the Lewis county juvenile facility for. And what do ya know? Today I am a wife and mother, a college student and a successful productive member of society. If I would have received the maximum sentence for my detailed crime I would be in prison still and until 2016. This is a huge injustice…
Normally I will fall on the draconian side of sentencing. In this case I do think that the sentence is way to harsh. 20 years would feel about right, just enough time for this kids brain to figure out action and consequence.
There is a special corner in HELL for people who think this is OK.
“HE DID AN ADULT CRIME!!”
How many adults do you know that go around discharging a firearm within city limits and around bystanders?
Only kids do that kind of crap.
I agree a stiff sentence was required in this case. I also think it is ridiculous as to how much time child rapists get in comparison. This kid might be able to be rehabilitated after a time in prison. Molesters only go on to offend again. They should be getting the 96 years for the first offense.
HELLO PEOPLE!! THIS KID WAS OFFERED A PLEA. DEAL AND SAID NO TO IT,,AND NOT BECAUSE HIS LAWYER TOLD HIM NOT TO,,NO THIS KID GOT COCKY AND THOUGHT HE WOULD WALK AWAY WITH NO CONSEQUENCES,,,,BECAUSE LIKE SO MANY OTHER KIDS,HES NEVER HAD TO TAKE RESPONSIBILTY FOR HIS ACTIONS,, GUESS WHAT? HE IS FACING THE CONSEQUENCES FOR HIS ACTIONS,,FINALLY,,,A ALSO HE WAS TRIED AS AN ADULT BECAUSE( GASP) HE DID AN ADULT CRIME!!
I’m sorry but this sentence is ridiculous. This KID didn’t kill or even hurt anyone. Yes, it’s true he very well could have….but that’s not what happened. Pukebag piece of shit child rapists who reoffend over and over and RUIN innocent lives get 5 or less years. Jimmy Reeder raped and killed a little girl and he got 1/3 of the time. Anyone who agrees with this sentence isn’t looking for justice, and neither were the prosecutor or the judge. I can’t believe they put him on front of the same judge that handed down this sentence the first time. Like he’s really going to admit he was wrong and change his mind. If this kid can’t be rehabilitated then our whole system is pointless, isn’t it?
They never intended to do anything the lewis county is so corrupt thats why they choose what and what not to put we should get other government offices to investigate them
My uncle stabbed an 8oyr old couple to death when he was 23. He knew these people, when he knocked on the door they let him in….he got sixty years with the possability of parol after 20yrs. I find my uncles crime to be far worse.
If the defendant had been a radical Muslim and shot up down town Centralia, everyone would be clammering to hang him. Well, this crime is no different. This person is a terrorist. I never really liked Nelson Hunt much. I always thought he was too soft, but I am now re-thinking my opinion. In this case, he made a decision that was in line with the thinking of the legislature. That is his job and he did it. Now , it is time to move on.
If the possibility of hitting another person is a reason for this type of sentence, is that what should be done with everyone who discharges a fire arm in inappropriate settings? What possibly could have happened? But didn’t. Or is it only those who “might” be, or are, gang members?
It was Nelson Hunt, what did you expect, common sense? Yep, pretty serious crime, but 93 years? 20 to 30 would have been pretty punitive.
So, here we have the judge who told the county commissioners they needed a tax increase to fund the drug court so they could rehabilitate, saying we don’t want to rehabilitate, just to punish and punish beyond severely.
The court of appeals is made up of some pretty smart judges, who work as a panel and bounce ideas off each other. However, Nelson Hunt is smarter than them.
Not that I think Solis-Diaz is even remotely close to a model citizen, but I wish him luck in his appeal, or with the hearing in 15 years.
This judge is dangerous and the people of Lewis County need to remember at the next election. Remember, this is the judge who let the Toledo Pharmacy armed robbers off with just nine months. They held a gun to the owner’s head. Nine months, a boys shoots and doesn’t hit anyone and it come to 93 years. Is this justice?
I have a lot more to say but Sharyn would not allow it. However, good ole Nelson knows what I have to say and why.
I’m not defending him by any means, what he did was reckless, but he didn’t kill anyone. There are people who have committed homicide who received much lighter sentences. This story, coupled with the one-sided ruling in favor of the cop who shot that guy, makes me wonder if true justice even exists in Lewis County.
What is going to interesting to me if based on this case. That king will follow suit with the Peterson murder and any and all murders that are done by the youth. I should hope. Maybe if this is done our youth will stop killing people or attempting to kill.
Thank god!!! The last thing the world needs is another person like him running around!
That is just asinine & completely gross!
why don’t they just execute him?
same dif.
child rapists aren’t even locked up for that long.
NORTH KOREA isn’t even as ridiculous as this insanity.