Man gets 11 years for killing Salem teen in 1998
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A man charged in the killing of an Oregon teenager 20 years ago has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Authorities say 16-year-old Alfredo Lopez-Nabor was fatally shot May 9, 1998, during a gang-related fight outside a Salem convenience store.
Investigators developed probable cause to arrest Fernando Cortez, but the suspect who was 19 at the time fled to Mexico.
A Salem police detective reopened the investigation a decade later as a cold case. He discovered that Cortez had returned to the U.S., and was possibly living under a false name.
Cortez was arrested in California last year and extradited to Oregon.
Court records show he pleaded guilty Monday in Marion County Circuit Court.
