Accomplice in fatal shooting in Springdale draws 20 years

FAYETTEVILLE — A Springdale man pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court for his role in a fatal shooting in 2015.

Jose Andrew Delatorre, 21, pleaded guilty Sept. 19 to accomplice to second-degree murder and two counts of impairing the operation of a vital public facility. Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay sentenced Delatorre to 20 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction. He was given credit for 891 days of jail time served.

Three men were standing near a car in Springdale on April 11, 2015, when four men in a blue Ford Focus pulled up and demanded to know their gang affiliations, police said. One of the three said he was in a gang, and one of the people in the car opened fire, killing Jimmy Rodriguez, 20, police said.

Delatorre, 18 at the time, is believed to have been a passenger in the car. He was charged with accomplice to capital murder but entered into a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Rodolfo Alberto Martinez, 21, the gunman, was convicted in August of capital murder, two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of committing a terroristic act. Martinez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Police and prosecutors said the shooting was gang-related retaliation but Rodriguez wasn’t the target.

Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez, 20, who police said was the driver of the car, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to the unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. Vasquez-Sanchez is awaiting trial. The killing happened three days before Vasquez-Sanchez turned 18, and he was charged as an adult.

The other person in the car was a 13-year-old juvenile. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and court proceedings.

Martinez and Vasquez-Sanchez fled after the shooting and were captured two days later near Hartman, outside of Clarksville. Delatorre and the juvenile were arrested in Springdale the day after the shooting.