GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The man who shot and killed a mother in downtown Grand Rapids in front of her one-year-old daughter will spend the rest of his years behind bars.
Kent County Circuit Court Judge Paul Denefeld handed down a life sentence to Luis Bernal-Sosa. The 28-year-old will never have a chance at getting out on parole.
Bernal-Sosa was convicted of first-degree murder for killing 22-year-old Leah Gomez. She was shot on May 31, 2023, in her vehicle near Heartside Park in Grand Rapids. Her one-year-old daughter, Rosie, was in the car at the time of the shooting.
During sentencing on Wednesday, loved ones told the court and Gomez's killer that his sentence is little comfort for them.
“Why didn’t he think of the consequences that were going to take place when he did what he did," said Irene Gomez Sanchez, Leah's grandmother. "Leah was a walking angel that we never realized was to here on earth with us."
While Leah's grandfather, Ken McDonald, believes Sosa was planning this, Sosa told the court that was not the case.
"My intention was to threaten her, not to kill her … like her grandfather said there is a god, and God has the last word," he said.
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Killer's legal status
Between his trial and sentencing, Bernal-Sosa garnered more attention because of his legal status. Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker told reporters there had been two murder cases in the county involving people in the county illegally during a press conference on the death of Mya Kelly.
FOX 17 later confirmed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Luis Bernal-Sosa had entered the U.S. illegally.
His legal status had not been publicly brought up until the case against Brandon Ortiz-Vite.
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