Lake Worth Beach man sentenced to 25 years in prison in murder when he was 17
By Allen Cone
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WEST PALM BEACH (WPTV) — A Lake Worth Beach man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder in 2017 when he was 17 years old, less than two months shy of being an adult.
Natividad Umanzor Yanyes, now 23, pleaded guilty to the murder charge and robbery with a firearm, and was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Gillen. The two sentences in the plea deal will be served concurrently.
In the sentencing, there was no minimum sentence because the defendant was not in possession of a firearm during the offenses.
He was indicted originally on a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death on Oct. 30, 2017, of Lucio Velasquez-Morales, 33
In 2017, the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office said six MS-13 gang members killed Velasquez-Morales, 33 and 25-year-old Octavio Sanches-Morales on Nov. 5.
Victor Manuel Fuentes, then 20, of El Salvador, was arrested in both homicides and is still awaiting trials.
In the arrest report, detectives said Fuentes admitted to targeting Velasquez-Morales outside his home on South H Street and 10 Avenue South in Lake Worth the morning of Oct. 30. The report said Fuentes and his “associates” were in a car, he got out and pointed a gun at the victim and robbed him. When Velasquez-Morales started to run after his wallet was stolen, the report said Fuentes admitted to shooting him because the “demon” in his head told him to.
Two juveniles, both 17 from El Salvador, were arrested in the homicide.
And three other juveniles, two of them 17 and one 16 years old, were arrested for the homicide of Sanchez-Morales on Nov. 5.
Investigators believe the suspects targeted Hispanic men who might be undocumented because they are likely not to report the crimes for fear of being deported.
All are in the United States illegally from El Salvador or Honduras, according to PBSO.
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