MIAMI – A teenager who was found guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a schoolmate at Coral Gables High School learned his sentence Tuesday.
Andy Rodriguez, now 19, was sentenced to 40 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. During the probation, Rodriguez is ordered to speak to youth groups about his experience four times a year.
Rodriguez was convicted of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the September 2009 killing of Juan Carlos Rivera. Investigators said an argument over a girl prompted the stabbing.
Surveillance cameras captured video of the crime.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle released a statement Tuesday, saying, "There is nothing to celebrate today. The sentencing today of Andy Rodriguez is a double tragedy. A deadly anger by a jealous young man sadly ended the life of Juan Carlos Rivera and has destroyed two families. Two young lives with such potential, ruined. Two futures lost forever."
Before the sentencing, Rodriguez took the opportunity to address Rivera's family and the court.
"First of all, I wanted to ask for forgiveness to the family of the victims from the bottom of my heart, and I would like to ask the judge the opportunity to speak," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "Today, the circumstances point me with their eyes and they point me with their fingers, but I'm not a murderer. I don't behave like a murderer. I consider myself a person with a good heart and good feelings."
Rodriguez wept openly in court as prosecutors asked for a life sentence in prison, the maximum punishment.
"He did not show the mercy and humanity to that victim, to Mr. Rivera, which he is asking this court today to give him," said prosecutor Marie Mato.
"The state is asking you to sentence him to life, a 20-year-old with no record," said attorney Alexander Michaels.
"My grandson didn't want to kill (him)," said Rodriguez's grandmother, Elsa Alfonso, in Spanish. "I ask forgiveness to the mother and the grandmother."
The defense attorney said this was all about self-defense and that the media attention affected the sentencing.
Rivera's mother was also crying in court. She said none of this will bring her son back.