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Teen Sentenced In Alcohol Poisoning
POSTED: 8:46 pm MST February 29,
2008
UPDATED: 1:51 pm MST March 1,
2008
PHOENIX -- A teen was sentenced on Friday for allowing a runaway 13-year-old to drink herself to death and then dumping her body in an alley.Armando Hernandez, 19, received seven years in prison for the Feb. 19, 2007 death of Brenda Nguyen, 13. Nguyen ran away from home on Feb. 11. Her body was found near Sixth Avenue and Indian School Road eight days later but was not identified for another five days.Police said Nguyen died about four hours after drinking a fifth of vodka in the course of about 30 minutes at a west Phoenix apartment complex.Hernandez pled guilty to manslaughter on Dec. 18."The victim in this case did not deserve the tragic death she suffered," said Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas.Clayton Koepke, Scott Franze, and Ana Hernandez, were indicted on March 8, 2007 for various charges surrounding the victim's death.According to a police probable cause statement filed in court, Koepke, 19, wanted Nguyen to drink heavily so he could have sex with her. He and Hernandez watched as she drank five full glasses of vodka, fell unconscious and began having seizures and trouble breathing during the evening of Feb. 18, 2007. Koepke and Hernandez, along with Hernandez' mother, 44-year-old Ana Hernandez, and her boyfriend, 38-year-old Scott Franze, watched the unconscious girl for three hours, sometimes performing CPR to get her to keep breathing, court documents said.None called police or the fire department because they were afraid. Police said all four lived in the apartment together.Nguyen and her friend, 14-year-old Arlene Cota, had been staying at the apartment and Cota was there when Nguyen died, according to police.Cota and Hernandez had been friends for several years, officers said.According to police, although Cota lied about when she last saw her best friend, she is not facing criminal charges.Koepke and Franze, 39, have also pleaded guilty to charges in this case and are awaiting sentencing. Koepke pleaded guilty to aanslaughter, aand Franze to child abuse.Hernandez pleaded guilty to child abuse and was sentenced on Jan. 18 to 2.5 years in prison.
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