A Las Vegas teenager has been sentenced to between 16 and 40 years in prison by Clark County District Court Judge Kathleen Delaney after he strangled and sexually assaulted his teacher while asking about his grades after class.
"It is the most heinous type of crime there could be," the judge told him, inveighing against the attack on the educator, in comments reported by Las Vegas-based CBS affiliate KLAS.
Jonathan Eluterio Martinez Garcia, 17, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, attempted sexual assault, and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily harm. He originally faced a dozen charges in the attack on his teacher during a discussion about grades at Eldorado High School, reported Fox News.
On Wednesday, Garcia apologised in court. His lawyer told the judge that his client's behaviour was caused by severe side effects of an asthma medication he took that caused mood changes, night terrors and hallucinations, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
"I regret what I've done," Garcia said. "I also regret the things I should have done, but didn't do." His attorney asked for probation.
In April 2022, a student attacked the teacher in a classroom. He choked her with a string and then slammed her head against the table and knocked her unconscious. While attacking, he allegedly said he "didn't like the teacher" so he was "getting revenge."
When she awoke again she found her pants and underwear had been pulled down and the boy was pouring liquid over her.
The teacher told police that the accused was going to "set something on fire" before toppling a heavy bookshelf over her and sitting down on top of it.
While she was trapped under the shelves, the accused also tried to slash Sade's (the teacher) wrist while he asked, "Can't you die already?"
The accused said that he blacked out during the attack, but he later told police that he raped her and remembered trying to strangle her.
