COLUMBIA, S.C. — A judge had denied an attempt to lower the prison sentences for two people who helped murder a 15-year-old Columbia teen.
Jaylen Wilson and Nicolle Sanchez Peralta went before Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin on Thursday afternoon. Their attorneys had asked for reduced sentences for killing Sanaa Amenhotep.
In August, Wilson was sentenced to 60 years in prison while Sanchez Peralta got 65 years for their roles in the crime. But after hearing arguments from both sides, McCaslin rejected their effort for leniency.
Prosecutors said Wilson, Sanchez Peralta, and Treveon Nelson lured the teenage Amenhotep away from her home in April 2021, shot her to death, and then buried her body in a shallow grave in a wooded area off Interstate 20 in Lexington County.
Wilson and Nelson pleaded guilty before their trials began. Sanchez Peralta chose to go to trial but was found guilty by a jury.
During her trial, the defense tried to argue that Sanchez Peralta had been abused by her boyfriend and that she was forced to participate in the crime. The prosecution, however, said she was a willing participant in the murder.