Orozco takes plea bargain

DAYTON–Benjamin Orozco, whose 2019 conviction in the 1996 shooting death of Lance Terry and assault of David Eaton in Dayton was overturned on appeal in November, 2021, has accepted a plea agreement and now awaits setting of a sentencing hearing following a Pre-Sentencing Investigation, court records indicate.

Dates for the retrial had been set for September, 2022, but were continued and anticipated to be in early 2023, said Dale Slack, Prosecuting Attorney, this week. In November and December of last year, the prospect of a second trial and other factors Slack didn't disclose were motivations for Orozco to accept a plea deal.

In an amended information filed December 21, Orozco was charged with Second-Degree Murder-Deadly Weapon Enhancement, and Second-Degree Assault. Orozco, through attorneys Nicholas Holce and Rachel Cortez, pleaded guilty in a hearing December 13, before Judge Pro Tem Thomas Cox.

A pre-sentence investigation was ordered by Superior Court Judge Brooke J. Burns in a December 20, 2022, hearing after which a sentencing hearing will be set.

The prosecution is seeking 20¼ years followed by 36 months of community custody, Slack said. "He'll ask for less," Slack said, "but I don't have any doubt he'll get what we're asking for."

Slack anticipates the sentencing hearing should not be later than March, but added that the Department of Corrections, which handles the pre-sentence investigation, has a back log.