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Ottawa County teen automatically sentenced to life without parole could be resentenced after Supreme Court order

The Court found the mandatory sentence of life without parole for the crime committed when he was 18 as cruel or unusual punishment.
Credit: WZZM
Juan Sandro Cabrera appears in 58th District Court Thursday for a preliminary exam.

HOLLAND, Michigan — Juan Sandro Cabrera was 18 when he shot and killed 14-year-old Troy "TJ" Wells in 2019.

The first-degree murder conviction and gang charge landed him a mandatory life in prison without parole sentence. 

But the Michigan State Supreme Court found earlier this week that the sentence as cruel or unusual punishment, and he should be resentenced in Ottawa Circuit Court. 

Cabrera is now 22 years old. 

He shot Wells between six and seven times; three shots to the torso were fatal, said Dr. Stephen Cohle, deputy medical examiner for Ottawa County.

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Video shows Wells arguing with Julio Palomares, who witnesses said was shown in a photo with Cabrera holding rifles and throwing gang signs. The two are believed to be members of the Latin Kings.

"The defendant came out of room 230 with an assault rifle, shot TJ no fewer than six times from a few feet away," Assistant Ottawa County Prosecutor JoEllen Haas said during the trial. "TJ was unarmed. That's what happened."

Witnesses testified that Cabrera was a member of the Latin Kings gang and posed for a picture holding a rifle the night of the shooting. 

Initially, authorities charged the wrong person in the shooting death after multiple people misidentified the suspect, Haas said.

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