GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Forty years after Jesus Francisco Gonzalez gunned down a rival outside a Grand Rapids bar, the now-59-year-old killer had his life sentence reduced this week to a term of years, ensuring his release.
On July 6, 1986, Grand Rapids police officers found the body of Nathan Jaramillo in a parking lot outside a bar on South Division Avenue. Police say Gonzalez fought with Jaramillo, fired multiple shots and killed him. Gonzalez claimed self-defense.
Gonzalez was 19 at the time. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced in 1987 to mandatory life in prison, but a series of court rulings upended mandatory life sentences for teens…