Coral Gables High student gets 40 yrs prison term for fatally stabbing classmate www.privateofficer.com

 

Miami Fla Nov 30 2011 For fatally stabbing a classmate at Coral Gables High, Andy Rodriguez must serve a 40-year term in prison, plus 10 years of probation, a judge ruled Tuesday.

“This is an enormous and senseless tragedy. Two families are forever torn apart and changed,” Miami-Dade Circuit Dava Tunis said.

A jury in August convicted Rodriguez, 19, of second-degree murder with a weapon for the September 2009 slaying of Juan Carlos Rivera, 17.

The two got into a brawl after bumping into each other in the hallway. Rodriguez, armed with a knife, stabbed Rivera five times, with one a fatal blow to the heart.

Rodriguez, prosecutors said, was upset that his girlfriend had befriended Rivera, a new arrival to the high school. His defense attorney claimed that Rodriguez was acting in self-defense after Rivera hit him. 

Source:miamiherald.com