Man who killed Mesa store clerk over pack of cigarettes gets nearly 40 years in prison

MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — The man convicted in the deadly shooting of a convenience store worker seven years ago will spend nearly four decades in prison.

In January 2015, police say Apolinar Altamirano walked into a QuikTrip store in Mesa and tried to steal cigarettes. When an employee tried to stop him, Altamirano shot him. Grant Ronneback, 21, died as a result.

The shooting gained national attention at the time because Altamirano was an undocumented immigrant who was awaiting deportation on a prior offense. He was initially charged with first-degree murder and prosecutors sought the death penalty. A lower court took the death penalty off the table because Altamirano was intellectually disabled, and the state Supreme Court agreed.

After years of criminal proceedings and delays, Altamirano pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges this past May. On Friday, the now-37-year-old was sentenced to 38.5 years in prison. This comes after he previously pleaded guilty to weapons charges in 2017 and was sentenced to six years.

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