Man charged in shooting to accept plea offer
Police found out about crime while investigating another incident
A Yuma County Superior Court judge scheduled a change-of-plea hearing for one of the two suspects charged in connection to the shooting of a 22-year-old Somerton man following an unusual request from his attorney for a sidebar discussion on Thursday.
Appearing before Judge Roger Nelson, attorney Michael Donovan, who represents Martin Guzman, asked to approach the bench when his client’s case was called.
The conversation, which also involved the prosecutor, was not only very brief, but inaudible because it was drowned out by the judge’s white-noise machine.
Guzman, who remains in custody at the Yuma County jail on a $250,000 cash-only bond, has been charged with attempted 1st-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and burglary.
It was expected that he would either accept the plea offer from state prosecutors during this hearing, or have a date set for his trial. Neither happened.
When the sidebar concluded, however, Judge Nelson continued Thursday hearing and scheduled a change-of-plea hearing for Guzman for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 30. Terms of the plea offer were not discussed.
According to Somerton police, officers found out about the July shooting, while investigating a traffic accident on Highway 95 at milepost 13. Upon their arrival on scene, officers learned that a passenger in one of the vehicles involved in the traffic crash had been shot moments earlier in Somerton.
The victim, a 22-year-old male who had been shot once, was transported to YRMC by the Cocopah/ S o merton Fire Department paramedics. He was later airlifted to a medical facility in Phoenix. The driver of that vehicle was attempting to take the victim to YRMC when the crash occurred.
Investigating officers also learned the shooting had occurred at an address in the 600 block of East Orchid Street in Somerton prior to the traffic crash. Officers responded to the location, which was found to be unoccupied, and the scene was secured for crime scene processing.
Witness information was obtained from several individuals and a description of the suspects and vehicle was broadcast to area law enforcement agencies.
During the course of the investigation, 20-yearold Anthony Serrano and Guzman were identified as suspects. They were both taken into custody without incident on July 27 at a residence in the 3100 block of West 17¾ Street in Somerton.