Sentencing date scheduled for teen killer of Pontiac couple
Cahla Richardson, 23, and Justin Flores, 34, were fatally shot in 2018
A Pontiac man convicted nearly four years ago for the shooting deaths of a couple that reportedly happened during a robbery of marijuana has a sentencing date.
Jordan Garcia-Tinoco, who was two weeks past his 17th birthday when he was involved in the murder of Cahla Richardson, 23, and
Justin Flores, 34, is to be sentenced March 1, 2023 by Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant. An earlier sentencing date was delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions at the courthouse and other matters, but at last it appears the case is clearly headed to conclusion.
Richardson and Flores were shot to death at their home on Robinwood Street on Jan. 13, 2018. At the conclusion of a trial in Oakland County Circuit Court about a year later, Garcia-Tinoco was convicted of the murders while two co-defendants opted out of trial. One of them, Austin Cooper, subsequently pleaded no contest to second-degree homicide and is serving a 25- to 60-year sentence. The other, Giovanni McCaa, had most charges dismissed in exchange for his testimony and for pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit armed robbery. McCaa drove Cooper and Garcia-Tinoco to the Robinwood house after the marijuana ripoff plan was reportedly hatched. He’s serving an 81-month to 20-year prison sentence.
Immunity was granted to others connected to the incident in exchange for their testimony during the trial.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office is not seeking a life sentence without parole for Garcia-Tinoco, but rather a term of years. The minimum sentence would be 25 to 60 years in prison, but it’s up to the judge to decide.
Garcia-Tinoco testified in his own defense at the trial, claiming the confession he made to detectives about being involved in the murders was a lie he agreed to as a way to save Cooper from serving life in prison. The jury, however, didn’t buy it.