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The last time Rita Miera saw her son alive, he was with Donald Orlando Valdez.
"I asked him to keep an eye on my son," Miera told a Salt Lake City judge on Friday. "And his reply was, 'Don't worry, I got this.' Needless to say, I was betrayed."
Early the next morning, on Aug. 31, 2013, Valdez shot and killed Miera's son, 28-year-old David Gonzalez. It was an act that destroyed her world, Miera said Friday during a sentencing hearing for Valdez.
"You took my only son from me and his family," Miera told Valdez.
In February, Valdez, 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony counts of manslaughter, discharge of a firearm and obstructing justice. Third District Judge Vernice Trease sentenced the man on Friday to three consecutive one-to-15 year prison terms, as agreed upon by attorneys in Valdez's plea deal.
When given the chance to speak before sentencing was handed down, Valdez offered less than a dozen words: "I just want to apologize to the family. And I'm sorry."
Valdez admitted in documents filed in court that he shot and killed Gonzales, but that he believed "he was reasonably acting in self-defense but in circumstances in which he used more force than legally justifiable."
Police have said the shooting was motivated by the men's rival gang ties, but defense attorney Heather Brereton said Friday that wasn't the case.
"The victim in this case certainly was a friend of his," Brereton said. "Not a situation that was in any way gang-involved. It was just a tragedy all the way around that started with a fight that got out of hand. There was a lot of drugs and alcohol involved that night."
Valdez was a family friend and had been staying with Miera's children before the shooting, Miera told the judge.
Police have said that Gonzales was at a house near 900 South and 300 West for his sister's birthday party when he was killed.
Witnesses told police that Valdez and his brother, Nicholas Valdez, were flashing gang hand signs. At some point, Nicholas Valdez got into a fistfight with Gonzales, who police say was a member of a rival gang.
The fight moved outside at about 6:55 a.m., where Nicholas Valdez allegedly pulled out a silver handgun and fired two rounds. A fragment struck one of the bystanders at the party, according to court documents.
At some point, Donald Valdez also fired a gun. Gonzales was struck in the head, and died in front of the house.
Originally, Nicholas Valdez was arrested on suspicion of Gonzales' murder, but investigators later found evidence that linked his brother to the crime.
The shell casings that were next to Gonzales' body matched those from a Glock pistol, which was hidden — along with some of Donald Valdez's clothes — in a nearby alley.
Nicholas Valdez, 29, pleaded guilty to third-degree felonies discharge of a firearm and obstructing justice for his role in the crimes, and he was sentenced to 24 months probation.
Twitter: @jm_miller