Arizona Supreme Court declines to revive death penalty bid in 2015 case

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to revive an effort to seek the death penalty against a Mexican immigrant charged in the 2015 killing of a convenience store clerk during a robbery in metro Phoenix.

Prosecutors have been asking the courts to revive their intent to seek the death penalty against Apolinar Altamirano ever since a lower-court judge concluded in mid-2019 that authorities couldn’t pursue his execution because he’s intellectually disabled.

The latest effort from prosecutors came this spring when they asked the Arizona Supreme Court to either conclude Altamirano isn’t intellectually disabled or to send the case back to the lower court to make another determination on his disability.

On Wednesday, the state’s highest court declined to review another court’s ruling over the issue.

Altamirano is accused of fatally shooting Grant Ronnebeck, a 21-year-old clerk at a Mesa convenience store, after Ronnebeck insisted that Altamirano pay for a pack of cigarettes. Authorities say Altamirano stepped over Ronnebeck to get several packs of cigarettes before leaving the store.

He has pleaded not guilty to murder, robbery and other charges in Ronnebeck’s death. Altamirano has already been sentenced to six years in prison for separate guilty pleas in the case and misconduct involving weapons.

Altamirano is a citizen of Mexico who has lived in the U.S. without authorization for about 20 years. He has been deported and returned to the U.S. in the past.

Then-President Donald Trump repeatedly cited Altamirano’s case as an example of crimes committed by immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.