Former 7-Eleven clerk sentenced in fatal Las Vegas shooting over stolen salad
A judge on Thursday sentenced a former 7-Eleven clerk to 18 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a woman in the back during a dispute over a stolen salad.
In September, a jury convicted 37-year-old Rainer Jefferson of second-degree murder in the death of Mallery Armijo. Jefferson was taken into custody days after the June 23, 2023, shooting outside a 7-Eleven near Sahara Avenue and Joe W Brown Drive.
During the sentencing hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said that Jefferson’s reaction to Armijo’s conduct in the store that day was “entirely inappropriate” and demonstrated his “penchant for violence.”
“He’s basically a career criminal who can’t keep his hands off guns,” the prosecutor said, referencing a criminal history dating to 2007.
Giordani urged District Judge Tierra Jones to sentence Jefferson to 18 years to life in prison, while public defense attorney Robert Arroyo asked the judge to forgo a life sentence for his client.
During the trial, defense attorneys argued that Jefferson had been outnumbered by transients and drug users who were armed with knives and a gun.
Arroyo said Thursday that jurors, by finding Jefferson guilty of second-degree rather than first-degree murder, determined his actions were not premeditated. The defense attorney added that his client, who had a difficult upbringing, was remorseful and had not been looking for trouble.
The defense attorney said that his client recently lost a child and has a 3-year-old son and family he wanted to support.
“He needs to learn how to walk away,” Arroyo said. “But, he has so much potential, and I know he is going to do a substantial amount of time, but there is so much that Mr. Jefferson has to give to society.”
Before Jones brought down a sentence, relatives and friends of Armijo, like prosecutors, asked for a life sentence.
Timothy Lett, who is the father of one of Armijo’s children, said that when he told their now 11-year-old son that his mother had died, the boy cried for days, asking his father, “He shot my mom in the back?”
The school that the boy attends in California has since diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder related to the loss of his mother, Lett said.
Steve Armijo, the victim’s father, also spoke during the hearing.
“I don’t believe in revenge, but he needs to understand what he has taken from us,” Steve Armijo said, sobbing.
Jones ordered Jefferson to spend 10 years to life in prison for second-degree murder, plus an additional eight to 20 years to be served consecutively for the deadly weapon enhancement.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
