PEORIA, Ill. – A 19-year-old has pleaded guilty to the shooting death of his girlfriend last year in a South Peoria home.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says Nathaniel Archuleta pleaded guilty today Monday to First Degree Muder in the death of Mary Halcomb. As part of a plea deal, Archuleta was sentenced to 45 years in prison and must serve 100% of it.
The shooting occurred on September 6th last year in a home in the area of Griswold and Latrobe, where Peoria Police responded to a female who had shot herself.
Halcomb was found with a single gunshot wound to the neck, with Archuleta claiming it was a suicide. But prosecutors say police discovered evidence that was inconsistent with a suicide, with Archuleta later confessing to an inmate that he shot Halcomb because he caught her texting with another man.
During the hearing on Monday, family members of Halcomb’s told about the toll that Mary’s death has caused them. Prosecutors say there was testimony of sleepless nights, nightmares, and heartbreak. There was also words of loss, loss of sisterly moments, and life milestones that will never occur.
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