Man Originally Charged with Murder Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Evidence
21-year-old Isaiah Guartuche, who was originally charged with murder, pleaded guilty the morning of Thursday, January 27th to tampering with evidence.
Back in December of 2020, in the 2300 block of 39th Street, 31-year-old Michael Constancio had confronted Guartuche about an argument he had with a woman where he allegedly pushed her. KAMC News reports that Guartuche apparently didn't want any sort of altercation with Constancio, who approached "aggressively."
Constancio was said to have grabbed Guartuche by the front of his hoodie. In response, Guartuche produced a firearm and shot Constancio 3 times in the chest. Immediately afterwards, Guartuche fled the scene in a silver car.
Guartuche said later that he was afraid of Constancio, even though he had made no threats to his life or caused him serious bodily injury. Constancio was also unarmed at the time of the shooting.
In February of 2021, a grand jury had indicted Guartuche for tampering with evidence instead of his original charge of murder.
Along with his guilty plea, Guartuche was sentenced to "10 years probated for 10 years." This means that if Guartuche remains out of trouble for 10 years, he will not have to serve any prison time.