Teen Pleads Guilty, Agrees To Max Prison In Richfield School Shooting

RICHFIELD, MN — A 19-year-old admitted in court Wednesday to his role in the fatal shooting outside of a Richfield school, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced.

Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, 19, of Minneapolis, pled guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and first-degree assault in the killing outside the South Education Center in Richfield on Feb. 1, 2022.

Under the plea deal, Valdez-Alvarez will be sentenced to 180 months on the second-degree unintentional murder conviction and a consecutive 103 months on the first-degree assault conviction.

In total, the sentence is 283 months, more than 23 years.

Valdez-Alvarez's guilty plea came on the one-year anniversary of the shooting, which took the life of 15-year-old classmate Jahmari Rice and wounded a 17-year-old student.

The sentence is the maximum allowed under Minnesota's sentencing guidelines. Valdez-Alvarez's formal sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23.

"School should be a safe sanctuary where kids can focus on learning, growing, and preparing for the future," Moriarty said in a news release.

"Mr. Valdez-Alvarez took that away from Jahmari Rice. We hope this admission of guilt is a positive step in the healing process for Jahmari’s family. Our office will continue to aggressively prioritize prosecution of violent crime and seek to hold those who commit violence accountable for their actions."

In early December, Valdez-Alvarez's co-defendant — 20-year-old Alfredo Rosario Solis — was sentenced to three years in prison.

Feb. 1, 2022 shooting

On the afternoon of Feb. 1, Richfield police responded to shots fired near the school.

At the scene, police found Rice on the ground with gunshot wounds. He was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

A second student — a 17-year-old boy — was also shot but survived. He was treated at the scene before undergoing surgery at HCMC. A third student was shot at but was not hit, police said.

Moments before the shooting, Solis and Valdez-Alvarez got into a fight with Rice and the two other students in the school parking lot, according to authorities.

The 17-year-old punched Solis, and in return Valdez-Alvarez fired numerous shots, according to the criminal complaint.

After firing off several rounds, Solis and Valdez-Alvarez ran to their SUV, police said. They continued to fire shots from the vehicle, the criminal complaint states.

Later that night, police searched Solis’ residence and found a 9mm Glock 45 handgun with an empty magazine inside and ammunition, investigators said.

Also read: Guns Drawn, Cops Went To Wrong Richfield School After Shooting