Teen pleads not guilty in shooting

FAYETTEVILLE — A Springdale teen charged as an adult in connection with a drive-by shooting pleaded not guilty Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court.

Jaime Eduardo Manzano, 16, is charged with second-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle; committing a terroristic act; theft by receiving; and misdemeanor fleeing. Manzano will be 17 in late October.

Three other teens are charged as juveniles in the case. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and juvenile court proceedings.

Washington County Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor accepted Manzano’s plea at arraignment Thursday and set an initial court date of Nov. 13. Bond is set at $100,000, but may be revisited. Manzano was ordered to have no contact with his co-defendants if released on bond.

Manzano is being held in juvenile detention.

Manzano appeared in court wearing a gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants. He was wearing leg shackles

and his hands were shackled to a belly chain.

The shooting incident happened Aug. 24 on Trudi Street in Springdale.

According to court documents filed last week, Manzano fired several rounds from a car at a residence and at individuals outside of the residence and was in possession of a stolen firearm. No one was injured. Manzano ran away from police officers trying to question him about his involvement in the drive-by shooting.

Springdale police declined to provide an incident report or other documents related to the shooting, but later issued a news release about an incident in the 2400 block of Trudi Street. Three Hispanic juveniles in a gray a BMW car were arrested while running away from the area. A firearm was found in the car, according to the release.

Two other juveniles who were no longer in the car were arrested later.

The back window of a red GMC Yukon was shot during the incident, according to the news release.

The shooting incident came a day after Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez was convicted of being an accomplice to the killing of 20-year-old Jimmy Rodriguez, in a driveby shooting on Savage Street in Springdale on April 11, 2015. Vasquez-Sanchez was the driver.

Manzano was identified in court testimony as being a passenger in the car when Rodolfo Martinez shot Rodriquez. Manzano was 13, too young to be charged as an adult at the time.

Martinez, 21, was convicted in August 2017 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.

Vasquez-Sanchez, 21, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for accomplice to first-degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

The other passenger, Jose Andrew Delatorre, 21, pleaded guilty in September 2017 to accomplice to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years.