AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the death 18-year-old Ally Raber.
Arapahoe District Court Judge Shay Whitaker sentenced Arturo Garcia, 24, on Thursday. Garcia pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on April 7.
“Nothing will change the reality that I am the parent of a murdered child, and I am the one with a life sentence,” Raber’s mother told the judge.
“This was a domestic violence power-and-control relationship, and (Garcia) exercised the ultimate power over her when he killed her,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Dawson told the court. “There is an extraordinary history of domestic violence.”
Police found Raber’s body inside the Knights Inn near 6th Avenue and Interstate 225 on July 2, 2017. Investigators immediately zeroed in on Raber’s estranged former boyfriend.
Raber had just graduated from Eaglecrest High School and was headed for the Navy when she was murdered.
Her family says Garcia, 22, had been locked up for domestic violence and had a restraining order issued against him prior to Raber’s death. Family members say they were unaware Raber met Garcia at the motel to seemingly give Garcia another chance.
“She truly believed she could help him,” her stepfather told the judge. “He took advantage of that innocence, and when he could no longer control her, he ended her life.”