- Two men were sentenced for their roles in the killing of 21-year-old Alex Franco, who was shot after planning to buy a gun.
- Rohan Sharoon received at least six years in prison, while Pedro Romero-Bustos will spend time on probation. Another third man was sentenced to juvenile detention in December.
- Before the sentencing, the judge heard statements from Franco's family members.
SALT LAKE CITY — Stacie Giles said the last time she saw her stepson alive, he was walking to get into the Jeep near his home. She heard the gunshot, a sound that still haunts her.
She often wonders whether her son, Alexzia "Alex" Franco, suffered or was scared.
"I will never get to hear his wonderful laugh. … We will always have a piece of our hearts missing and an empty chair," she said.
Giles said Franco loved and protected his siblings.
After hearing statements from Giles, along with Franco's mother and grandmother on Wednesday, a judge sentenced two boys who admitted to being involved in plans to rob him — one to prison, the other to probation.
On March 17, 2024, 21-year-old Franco was seen getting into a white Jeep Liberty close to his home. Two days later, his body was discovered "in a remote desert area in Utah County" with a single gunshot wound, according to police.
Franco's girlfriend told police he was supposed to meet with some people he knew about the purchase of a gun. But when they arrived and he got into a Jeep with the three teens, "they appeared to be arguing with Franco" before the vehicle drove away, and she heard a gunshot.
Charges said the Jeep was located later that day with new paint on the outside and a bloodstain on the floor and seat belt of the rear passenger seat.
Sentences
Rohan Sharoon, 19, was sentenced by 3rd District Court Judge James Blanch to one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and five years to life for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony. Blanch ordered the sentences to run consecutively so he will spend at least six years in prison, and Sharoon was given credit for more than two years he already spent in custody.
He pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal. The manslaughter charge was reduced from murder, a first-degree felony, and charges for obstruction of justice and possession of a dangerous weapon, second-degree felonies, and desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony, were dismissed.
The judge sentenced Pedro Alexis Romero-Bustos, 20, to five years to life in prison for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and one to 15 years in prison for obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. These prison sentences were suspended, and he was instead ordered to spend four years on probation.
If he does not successfully complete probation and is later asked to serve his prison sentence, his sentences will run consecutively.
Romero-Bustos pleaded guilty in a plea deal that dismissed charges for murder, a first-degree felony, and abuse of a human body, a third-degree felony.
The then-15-year-old who fired the gun was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in juvenile court. He admitted to the charge along with abuse of a corpse, a third-degree felony, as part of a plea deal that dismissed charges for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, along with obstruction of justice and possession of a firearm as a restricted person, second-degree felonies.
The boy, now 18, who KSL has chosen not to name, was sentenced to juvenile detention. Judge David Johnson extended the juvenile court's jurisdiction until he turns 25, giving him the harshest possible sentence in Utah's juvenile court system.
'They are responsible'
Giles expressed disappointment with the plea deals offered to Sharoon and Romero-Bustos, and said she knew there would not be justice going into the court process, but hoped there would be proper punishment.
"While they may have not been the ones to pull the trigger, I do feel strongly that they are responsible for the death of my son," Giles said about the two teenagers sentenced on Wednesday.
She said Romero-Bustos continued to go when he knew they were planning a robbery, and didn't come forward when he knew the family was wondering if Franco was dead or alive. She said Sharoon drove the car to where Franco's body was "dumped like trash" and didn't turn himself in until he knew he was going to get caught.
Franco's mother, Marci Kilpatrick, said her family would "never be the same" in a statement read by prosecutors after she had technical difficulties logging into the hearing remotely. She said every night she has a nightmare about telling his siblings that his body was found.
She said he had 13 siblings who loved him and looked up to him, and he was her "pride and joy."
Kilpatrick talked about searching for days after he went missing, arranging a vigil, hoping that it might help bring him back to her. Now, she said she can't get out of bed or hold a job because of the impact of his death.
Robin Franco said it broke her heart when she learned her grandson had been murdered, and she can still hear the echo of her cries about the "senseless" and "unnecessary" death.
