A 19-year-old who shot and killed a Hillsboro High School student in 2023 was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison.
Derek Owen Cuellar-Torres pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal Oct. 21 shooting of 17-year-old Jesus Copado-Oropeza, according to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office. Cuellar-Torres also pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the first degree for wounding a 16-year-old student from Liberty High School in the shooting, authorities said.
Prosecutors wrote that Cuellar-Torres, then 17, was called to a birthday party in Hillsboro to confront the teenagers, after a person contacted him saying the teens were being disrespectful. Cuellar-Torres was a member of a local gang, authorities said…