The Brief
- A grieving Phoenix father was arrested after attacking his son-in-law’s killer inside a Maricopa County courtroom during a sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
- Defense attorneys said Alberto Sanchez, 55, snapped after seeing the murderer snickering at the defense table following an emotional victim impact statement.
- A judge acknowledged the father’s grief and released him on his own recognizance despite condemning the courtroom violence, which was caught on camera.
PHOENIX – A grieving Phoenix father was arrested inside a Maricopa County courtroom Wednesday after lashing out and punching the man convicted of murdering his son-in-law during a tense sentencing hearing.
What we know:
Alberto Ontiveros Sanchez, 55, lunged at Abel Uribe inside a courtroom at the South Court Tower on Madison Street around 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 22. Uribe was in court to be sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 murder of Sanchez’s 27-year-old son-in-law, David Navidad-Parra.
According to court records, Sanchez had just finished delivering an emotional address to the court from the podium. As he walked back toward the gallery, he turned, charged the defense table and struck the handcuffed and leg-chained defendant four to five times in the back of the head with a closed fist. The sudden outburst caused widespread commotion, forcing the judge to clear the courtroom and halt proceedings in a wild moment caught on courtroom video.
The victim becomes a suspect
What they’re saying:…