Updated: 6:04 p.m. Thursday, March 29, 2012 | Posted: 11:44 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012
By Martina Valverde
Fort Bliss Officials
FORT BLISS, Texas —
A Fort Bliss soldier has been convicted on murder charges
Spc. Zareef Saleel was found guilty of murder and not guilty of premeditated murder.
Saleel was accused of shooting and killing Spc. Alex Jaime outside the Three-Legged Monkey, a bar in East El Paso, last February.
"I am not normally like that," Saleel said addressing the court. "I want to apologize to the army, my family, and Spc. Jaime's family. This year, I've had to replay the events over and over again in my head.”
"Two young men that found themselves through a series of bad decisions found themselves in a bad place and a very bad outcome," said defense attorney Leonard Morales.
Morales had asked for a mistrial right before the verdict was read. First thing Thursday morning, the judge told the jury self-defense was not part of this trial. The judge ultimately denied the mistrial.
"It's very apparent that that directly impacted the verdict," said Morales.
Before Saleel spoke, Jaime's family addressed him.
"Look at me, guy," said Jaime's older brother, Sgt. Gabriel Jaime. "Do you even know what you've done? You took a part of me."
"I don't hate you, but I hope he forgives you," said Jaime's stepmother.
"He's not an evil man. He feels for the family, he feels for what happened and he's going to have to pay his penalties," said Morales.
The prosecution was asking for the maximum punishment.
"A life for a life," Capt. Julie Worthington told the jury.
Saleel was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole and a dishonorable discharge. It will take about 30 days to process Saleel out of the army. The defense asked the jury to at least give Saleel six months' pay for his wife and two young daughters. It’s unknown if she will get pay that long, but she will get it for the 30 days.
"One day I will come home," said Saleel.
In court martial, Saleel will automatically get some kind of appeal process, Morales said.
Zareef Saleel served in the U.S. Army for 8 years including time in the National Guard. Saleel served two tours in Iraq and one in Kuwait.
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