CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — It was a crime that shook the metro Atlanta area. A 13-year-old boy was murdered during an attempting carjacking of his sister's truck.
Channel 2 Action News had the only crew in court when two men pleaded guilty in connection with the murder Friday.
Gilberto Gomez received a life sentence to be followed by a 20 year sentence. Sergio Alvear received a 20 year sentence with no parole.
Before they were sentenced, Steven Diaz's sister told Clayton County Superior Court Judge Geronda Carter her brother was an angel.
"Steven was always something special. There's not one day that I don't think of him," Diaz said.
She still couldn't believe her brother is gone.
"It's hard because we all want him back," Diaz said.
That's after prosecutors say Gomez took his life over his sister's truck. The truck had fancy butterfly doors.
Prosecutors say Gomez and Alvear confronted Steven and his sister while they were at the truck at their apartment complex in 2013.
"Steven was putting air into the tire while Samaria was removing a car seat from the back of it," Clayton County Executive Assistant District Attorney Katie Powers said in court.
Powers says the pair robbed Steven and his sister and asked for the keys to the truck. She said Alvear began beating the truck with a bat when Diaz gave him the wrong key.
Powers says Gomez pulled out a stolen shotgun.
"And as Steven Diaz was running away from the truck he discharged the shotgun," Powers said.
Police caught up with the pair after surveillance video captured the car they left the scene in.
"How do you plead?" Judge Carter asked Gomez.
"Guilty," he softly replied.
Steven's mother cried on the stand as she explained how losing her son has affected her family.
"We don't want these type of people out on the street and we don't want another family to have to go through what we've been through," she said through an interpreter.
Gomez hung his head as Samaria Diaz talked about her loss. She said her brother is gone but not forgotten.
"He will forever be our Steven. He will forever be our angel," she said.
Police continue searching for a third person involved in the shooting.
WSBTV
