The sentencing for one of two men Tempe police say were involved in the 2010 shooting death of Arizona State University honors student Zachary Marco initially scheduled for Tuesday will not happen for another month — or perhaps longer.
Marion Anthony Patterson III was to be sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Karen O’Connor’s courtroom on Tuesday on a second-degree murder charge, but Patterson may not be sentenced until for another 30 days or until after the trial of Louis Eugene Harper sometime in 2013, according to court records. Police say Harper pulled the trigger.
About 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 17, 2010, police say Patterson, then 17, and Louis Eugene Harper, now 21, robbed Marco.
Marco, 21, who was walking along the 1100 block of East University Drive in Tempe near the ASU campus was robbed and shot for his laptop computer and cell phone, police said. Marco, a 2008 graduate of Mesa’s Red Mountain High School where he played football, wrestled and ran cross country and track, was taking political science classes and planned to follow in his family’s footsteps and practice law. Moments before Marco was fatally shot in the chest, he had just finished studying in the college’s library.
In February, Patterson, who initially was charged with first-degree murder and robbery, entered into a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He faces between 14 to 19 years for the offense, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records.
Harper remains charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery in a case where prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty. His trial is scheduled to begin in early 2013.
Twelve days after Marco was shot, detectives recovered his computer bag and found fingerprints from both Harper and Patterson, police said. Citizens came forward and alerted police to the evidence, but police would not say where the bag was recovered. After serving search warrants, police confiscated cell phones containing text messages in which the two men discussed robberies they had committed, police said.
Both Harper and Patterson remain held in a Maricopa County jail.
Harper is next scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on April 18.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
Juggernaut8000 posted at 1:33 pm on Thu, Apr 12, 2012.
Get a rope...
Masterrogue666 posted at 7:19 pm on Tue, Apr 10, 2012.
I'm glad they caught the scum. Ending a person's life for so little proves they are animals, not humans....