Third teen gets 20 years in fatal East High drive-by shooting

William Morris, Des Moines Register
·4 min read

A teen who admitted to taking part in last year's fatal drive-by shooting outside East High School was sentenced Wednesday to up to 20 years in prison.

Braulio Hernandez Salas, 17, is one of 10 teens charged in the March 7, 2022, shooting, which killed 15-year-old Jose Lopez-Perez and critically injured two girls standing next to him. Eight of the teens so far have indicated they plan to plead guilty.

Hernandez Salas is the third teen to be sentenced, and appeared one day after co-defendant Romeo Perdomo pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Here's what to know about Hernandez Salas' role in the shootings and the criminal case against him.

What did Hernandez Salas do?

Unlike other defendants, who have reached deals to plead to charges of first- or second-degree murder, Hernandez Salas pleaded guilty last month to wo charges of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. The maximum sentence for that offense is 10 years in prison, and under the terms of his deal, his lawyers and prosecutors agreed to request both sentences run consecutively, for a total of 20 years.

Previously:Sixth teen pleads guilty in March 2022 fatal shooting outside East High

Gerald Feuerhelm, one of Hernandez Salas' attorneys, said after the hearing that his client was a passenger in the second of three vehicles that rolled past East High as the shooters fired into a crowd on the sidewalk in front of the school. Based on analysis of video footage of the shooting, Feuerhelm said, Hernandez Salas' attorneys do not believe he or anyone else in that vehicle fired shots during the attack.

Victim's mother: 'it was avoidable'

Deborha Perez, mother of Jose David Lopez, the 15-year-old killed in the March 2022 shooting outside East High School, gives a victim impact statement.
Deborha Perez, mother of Jose David Lopez, the 15-year-old killed in the March 2022 shooting outside East High School, gives a victim impact statement.

At Wednesday's hearing, Hernandez Salas apologized to the victims and their families.

"I never wanted nothing to happen. I’ve always avoided confronting people who didn’t like me," he said. "I guess this wasn’t avoidable."

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Deborha Perez, mother of the slain teen, took the stand to contest that.

"I still don’t understand and I’m never going to understand the choices you guys made, but I do understand that any one of you could have changed your minds to what you were set to do that day, and with that change, my son would probably be here," she said.

'Next time, you should find new friends'

Shooting victim Jessica Lopez Torres gives a victim impact statement in court.
Shooting victim Jessica Lopez Torres gives a victim impact statement in court.

Perez also accused the suspects' families of trying to intimidate her and told Hernandez Salas his regret and apologies did nothing to bring her son back.

"I’m trying so hard for rage not to take over me, but that’s not how I feel right now," she said.

Jessica Lopez Torres, one of the two girls injured in the shooting, told Hernandez it "hurts my soul" that he wasn't required to plead guilty to murder or attempted murder.

"Next time, you should find new friends, because the ones you had, or still have, are not the best choices," she said.

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Where do the other cases stand?

Hernandez Salas is the third teen to be sentenced in the attack. In addition to Perdomo, sentenced Tuesday, the court in November sentenced Kevin Martinez, who drove one of the three vehicles. Martinez, like Hernandez Salas, pleaded guilty to two charges of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and he likewise was sentenced to consecutive terms of 10 years for each offense.

Next up, according to court filings, will be Octavio Lopez Sanchez, who is scheduled to plead guilty and be sentenced March 3. According to court filings, he reached the same plea deal as Perdomo and will plead guilty to first-degree murder and receive a life sentence with eligibility for parole.

Previously:10 teens, 6 guns, 42 bullets complicate trials in killing outside East High

Four more teens have pleaded guilty on charges ranging from second-degree murder to accessory after the fact, and are scheduled to be sentenced in late May.

The final two pending cases are against the youngest suspects, Nyang Chamdual and Alex Perdomo, who were 14 and 15, respectively. at the time of the shootings. Both were recently transferred from juvenile to adult court. According to court filings, they have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trials in April.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Third teen sentenced in fatal Des Moines school shooting gets 20 years