Teenager gets 10-year sentence in stepfather’s shooting death

In his chambers Thursday morning, District Judge James Bixler listened to the recording of a 911 call placed by Eric Bennett on the night of Feb. 26.

Near the end of the tape, Bixler heard the Las Vegas man taunt his 17-year-old stepson, who was pointing a rifle at his face.

"The last thing he said was: Shoot me," the judge said.

The teenager, Marcus Montez, did just that. Bennett, 33, died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the head.

After listening to the 911 tape, Bixler sentenced Montez to a 10-year prison term that includes the possibility of parole after three years.

Witnesses said the shooting occurred after a fight between Bennett and his stepson. They exchanged punches inside their home near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards, and Bennett physically threw his stepson out of the house.

According to a Las Vegas police arrest report, Montez then called a friend, who brought him the rifle that he used to confront Bennett.

At some point, Bennett placed the 911 call. Bixler said his tone was rude and overbearing.

"He almost immediately got into an argument with the 911 operator," the judge said.

Bixler said Bennett told the operator his stepson had come to the residence with a gun but had left. During the call, the teenager returned and shot his stepfather.

Montez, now 18, pleaded guilty in October to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon.

Bennett had married the teenager's mother, Tristana, in May 2006, and had lived with the woman and her children for the previous 10 years. Together they had a son, who is now 15 months old.

"I still love my husband," Tristana Bennett said after her son's sentencing hearing. "I'm going to love him regardless, and I'm going to love my son regardless."

She acknowledged that her husband had been violent toward her in the past. She recalled three altercations over a 10-year period, including one that resulted in his arrest on a domestic violence charge.

Now Tristana Bennett, 36, is raising Montez's four younger siblings alone. She also works full time for a company that provides customer service for Verizon Wireless.

"I still have to keep going," she said.

"Bills are not going to stop because my husband is dead and my son is in prison."

She said she wants her son to come home, but she knows she must wait.

"Marcus even knows: If you do something, you have to pay for it," she said.