Ringleader in Snapchat murder gets 27 years
2 others also sentenced to prison for the assault
Delvin Mendoza-Chaparro was beaten bloody, urinated on, forced to eat kitty litter and left to die in a snowbank in 14-degree weather.
The assault was recorded on his own Snapchat account. When the camera view flipped from showing his battered face, it showed the face of Devin Katzfey.
“You hear me, that’s what happens when you try to steal,” Katzfey said.
On Friday, Katzfey, 21, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the death of 20-year-old Mendoza-Chaparro. He also received 13 years of extended supervision. A cousin of the victim called the act “inhumane” and the prosecutor, Grant Huebner, said it was “brutal” and “senseless.”
“When it came time to claim this, when it came time to let the world know who was responsible for what happened to the victim that day ... that’s what the defendant did in those three Snapchat videos,” Huebner said.
Members of Mendoza-Chaparro’s family saw the videos, the prosecutor added.
“That’s their last memory,” Huebner said. “They don’t even get the comfort of having one good memory. The defendant took that.”
Two other people have been sentenced for their roles in the fatal beating. Sarah Zakzesky, 21, received 10 years in prison, and Branden Katzfey, 20, received 13 years. Branden is Devin Katzfey’s brother.
The beating began after a bout of marijuana smoking in Zakzesky’s apartment, she told investigators, when the trio accused Mendoza-Chaparro of stealing paraphernalia.
Authorities found Mendoza-Chaparro in an alley near S. 6th and W. Hayes streets wearing a blue Marquette University sweatshirt, with his jeans pulled down, no shoes and no socks. He appeared to have been severely beaten on the neck and head, according to the criminal complaint.
Devin Katzfey’s attorney, Dan Adams, said the case was an example of “street justice” gone awry and said the other codefendants were just as culpable. His client then apologized for his actions.
“It was supposed to be just a beating and it went too far,” Devin Katzfey, 21, said.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Wagner was unmoved.
“What you did is left a legacy of sadness behind and you literally beat to death — along with others — another human being, at your hands,” Wagner said.
“You’re the one who started the brutal assault,” he said. “And you finished it by dumping the body in a snowbank.”