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A man has been handed a life sentence for the brutal murder of his girlfriend, a crime marked by a prolonged and merciless attack during which the victim begged for her life.
Adrian Aguilar has been convicted of first-degree murder, along with charges of kidnapping and aggravated assault, ensuring he will remain behind bars for the rest of his life. This verdict was confirmed in a statement from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix, Arizona.
Despite the evidence, Aguilar maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty, as indicated by court documents accessed by Oxygen.
The tragic events unfolded in June 2023, when Aguilar, then 23, and his girlfriend, 19-year-old Amira Crofton, were driving through Tempe. According to the press release, Aguilar became enraged after allegedly seeing a text message from another man on Crofton’s phone. Convinced she was unfaithful, he demanded the truth, threatening her with a gun if she lied. Despite Crofton’s repeated denials of infidelity, Aguilar shot her.
In a horrifying turn of events, Aguilar continued to shoot Crofton over the course of 45 minutes while driving around the city.
Aguilar reportedly told police that at one point, Crofton tried to grab the gun and, as a struggle ensued, he crashed onto a curb, according to court documents cited by AZ Central.
Police responded after receiving a tip that a man had been standing outside his car and shooting into the passenger seat, per the press release. When officers finally found Aguilar, he was suffering from a gunshot wound and claimed someone had fired at his car.
Ultimately, he admitted to shooting himself in the shoulder, per the release, and to shooting Crofton because “he thought she disrespected him.”
As he confessed to police, Crofton—who had 11 gunshot wounds to her neck, head and torso—was terrified during the incident, crying and asking to go home.
“This young woman placed her trust in the defendant, and he repaid that trust with brutal violence,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the press release. “His actions were callous, calculated, and rooted in jealousy.”