Killer sent to prison for 13 years
The victim's mother says someone else was involved.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jose Rosado said it was kill or be killed when he shot Luis Vila in the head and killed him. He also says he didn't act alone, although he's the only one charged in the death.
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Rosado, 29, of South Truesdale Avenue, to 13 years in prison Monday.
Rosado pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter, arson, tampering with evidence and a firearm specification.
"I didn't mean to take a life with my own hands, but he wanted to kill me," Rosado said of Vila. "I take responsibility for what I did, but I wasn't the only one."
Vila's mother, Georgine Rivera, told the judge that Rosado wrote her a letter in which he confessed shooting her son. She said Rosado wrote in the letter that someone else was involved. The woman spoke in Spanish and her comments were interpreted by a female relative. "She wants to know why [Rosado] is here by himself," the woman said. "She wants to know who helped him."
Investigation
Assistant Prosecutor Patrick R. Pochiro said police have a copy of the letter Rosado wrote to Mrs. Rivera and are still investigating, but have been unable to prove that a second person is involved.
Vila, 35, of Youngstown, was found dead in the back seat of a burned-up 1993 Ford Explorer on Harvard Street in January 2003. His skull was cracked and he had been shot in the head and neck. Defense attorney Mark Lavelle said Rosado and Vila were involved in selling drugs together on the city's East Side.
"Jose was of the opinion that Vila was out to get him," Lavelle said, explaining why Rosado shot Vila.
Before he was sentenced, Rosado turned and spoke to Vila's family in Spanish. His comments were not interpreted in English.
bjackson@vindy.com