On Thursday, Feb. 11 in Gila County Superior Court, the man who killed three people in a downtown Globe bar shooting heard his sentence.

Sterling Randall Hunt, 23, of Globe, was given three consecutive life sentences with no possibility of release for three counts of first degree murder. In addition Hunt was given two 10 ½-year sentences for attempted first degree murder, to run consecutively to the life sentences, and two 7 ½-year sentences for aggravated assault. One assault sentence will run consecutively to the other sentences; the other will be concurrent with one of the attempted murder sentences. Hunt was given credit for 821 days in custody.

Those sentences, handed down by visiting judge Pamela Gates of the Maricopa County Superior Court, were part of a December 2020 agreement in which Hunt pleaded guilty to the Nov. 11, 2018 Jammerz Bar shootings. “It assures that the defendant will remain behind bars for the rest of his natural life, and more than deservedly so,” Chief Deputy County Attorney Bradley Soos said at the sentencing. “I think it’s a fair plea; the victims think it’s a fair plea.”

While Hunt’s fate was sealed by the plea agreement, Thursday was as much or more about the victims who got their chance to speak in court. Soos said that not only did they approve of the agreement, they had collectively initiated it. He added, however, that it stemmed from victims’ frustration with delays in going to trial in a case where the state had sought the death penalty – not from any sympathy toward Hunt.

Then the victims spoke.

They told the court about the grief, loss and anger from that November night when Hunt

shot Daniel Albo, 22, Cristi Licano, 44, Ashley Sanchez, 22, and Charlene Peak, 22, killing all but Peak, who was flown to a trauma center. Appearing in court Thursday, a tearful Peak related how that night changed her life. Another of Hunt’s intended victims, 32-year-old Scott Mills, was unhurt that night but later took his life, reportedly consumed by guilt after the incident.

Albo’s grandmother, Linda Ruiz, noted that 27 months have passed since the shootings. “Twenty-seven months ago, he (Hunt) destroyed his own life, to live behind bars,” she said.

“You did this. You stole memories we all will never be able to make,” said Daniel Albo and Ashley Sanchez’s cousin Jackie Talamantes, who said she was also a friend of Cristi Licano.

For all of them, the big question was why it happened. Hunt’s attorneys, Michael Ziemba and Thomas Henager, offered several possible factors; an inability to handle alcohol, brain damage resulting from head trauma, Hunt becoming “super-vigilant” after serving as a U.S. Marine.

“I don’t believe he knows why,” said Judge Gates, adding that substance abuse and possible mental health issues could have been involved.

Gila County Victim Witness Advocate Debra Blair took the podium Thursday to read victims’ letters.

“Our family has mourned and suffered every single day,” wrote Daniel Albo’s mother. “I pray for healing and for strength to get me through the day. I believe Mr. Hunt should be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of release or parole. My hope is that Mr. Hunt never has a chance to hurt anyone else.”

“You fully destroyed our lives when you decided to shoot my daughter and my nephew, Daniel Albo,” wrote Ashley Sanchez’s mother. “I need to heal, my family needs to heal, but there can be no healing without justice.”

“He has taken full responsibility for what happened,” said Ziemba. “He knows he did this. He has been remorseful from the beginning.”

Hunt attended his sentencing by audio in a room adjacent to the courtroom, and seemed unable to speak when Gates asked if he wished to say anything; Ziemba said his client appeared overwhelmed. In a statement read by his attorneys, Hunt said: “I just want to say that I’m sorry for all the damage I’ve done. I thought I could handle the alcohol, but it consumed me and destroyed families, even my own family.”

“I can’t begin to understand your frustration and your pain,” Gates told the gathered victims. “Someday you will begin to heal, and when you heal it will not be a betrayal of those you’ve lost. I know you will carry those memories every day.”

“You will never be released from custody,” Gates said to Hunt. She noted that while Hunt will not see his daughter again, he will be able to talk to her. “That’s something you took away from Daniel’s son,” she added.

After the sentencing, the victims gathered outside the Gila County Courthouse for a balloon release.