Inset: Henry Gonzales (Maricopa County Attorney’s Office/Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The scooter that Porfirio Medina was riding when he was shot and killed by Henry Gonzales in Phoenix, Ariz. (KSAZ).
An Arizona teenager is headed to prison for shooting and killing a man on a scooter who confronted a car that the teen was riding in after it almost hit him.
Henry Gonzales, 17, was sentenced to 14 years in prison this week for the August 2025 slaying of Porfirio Medina, 45, in Phoenix.
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A press release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office states that Gonzales, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter. He killed Medina near 7th Street and Buckeye Road following a “traffic confrontation” between Medina, who was riding a scooter, and the occupants of a vehicle that Gonzales was in.
“After the two nearly collided, the victim followed the vehicle to the next intersection and approached the passenger side while it was stopped at a red light,” the county attorney’s office says. “Gonzales lowered the passenger-side window and fired a single shot, hitting the victim in the chest.”
After the shooting, Gonzales and the people he was with fled the scene without calling 911 or reporting the incident. Medina was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Video surveillance, license plate readers, and cellphone location data helped identify the vehicle used in the shooting and led police to identify Gonzales as Medina’s killer. During an interview with police, Gonzales admitted he had illegally obtained the handgun he used several days earlier.
“He also admitted selling the gun after the shooting because he feared he might use it again in another confrontation,” the county attorney’s office says.
“A brief confrontation on the road ended with a man dead and a teenager facing years in prison,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell in a statement. “One reckless decision changed two families forever.”
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