A teenager who was 17 when a planned armed robbery ended in the shooting death of another teen was sentenced this morning to 25 years in prison, as the victim’s brother asked the court to impose a harsher punishment and the defendant said the killing was an accident.

Eliot Jackson, now 19, was sentenced in Pinal County Superior Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the November 2024 death of 16-year-old Esteban Valenzuela in the Maricopa Meadows neighborhood. Under the plea agreement, Jackson will serve a flat, day-for-day sentence in the Arizona Department of Corrections.

The sentencing marked the second time a defendant has been punished in the case. Another teen involved in the robbery, Isaiah Bandin, was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison. That teen began his prison sentence in Buckeye last month. His family is launching a campaign for early release. 

Before sentencing, Reyes Valenzuela, the victim’s brother, addressed the court and criticized the plea agreement as too lenient, saying his family would never regain what was taken from them.

“I’ll never get him back. I’ll never see him again,” Valenzuela said, adding that Jackson’s family would still be able to visit him in prison. He urged the judge to impose a longer sentence, calling the agreed-upon term “so soft” and saying he believed those involved knew exactly what they were doing.

Valenzuela told the court that his family has never been given a clear explanation for why his brother was killed or how the shooting happened. He said they were left without answers about whether the killing was personal, business-related or simply the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He expressed frustration that neither defendant had offered an explanation or apology that helped the family understand what led to his brother’s death, saying the lack of answers has compounded their grief.

Valenzuela said his family continues to live with unanswered questions about why his brother died and said that uncertainty has made it impossible for them to find closure.

Jackson’s attorney argued the shooting was not premeditated and occurred during a robbery attempt that escalated unexpectedly, describing it as an accidental discharge of a firearm.

Jackson then addressed the court, apologizing and saying the shooting was not intentional.

His verbatim statement:

“I’m sorry, and I accept responsibility for, you know, what I have caused, and you know everything that you know I put out. But you know everything that happened, you know, it wasn’t planned. You know, it accidentally happened, you know, and I take responsibility for that. I’m sorry, you know, but I don’t know why it happened, but you know, accident, you know, that’s all I can say. I never really meant to put any harm on anybody or none of that. I know. I know we had, you know, bad intentions of, you know, doing, you know the robbery, but you know, there was never bad intentions on hurting you know somebody that I know, and that’s all I would say, you know.”

The judge responded by noting the contradiction between Jackson’s claim that the killing was unplanned and his admission that the robbery itself was planned and carried out with loaded weapons.

Investigators previously said Jackson and several other juveniles planned to rob a teen weed dealer on the night of Nov. 22, 2024. When the robbery failed, Valenzuela, who was sitting in a car near Dirk Street and Dancer Lane, was shot and killed. 

Jackson was one of four juveniles charged in the case. Two additional suspects remain unidentified publicly because of their ages. Prosecutors charged Jackson and Bandin as adults, citing concerns about rising juvenile violence in the county.

In imposing sentence, Judge Jason Holmberg cited Jackson’s age and acceptance of responsibility as mitigating factors, while noting aggravating factors including the emotional harm to the victim’s family, the presence of accomplices and the underlying robbery for financial gain. Jackson received 413 days of credit for time already served.