Othello man gets 20 years for murder

OTHELLO — A Othello man will be spending 20 years in prison for shooting and killing a 27-year-old woman near Othello in January.

Ismael Soriano-Altamirano, 32, of Othello, recently pleaded guilty in Adams County Superior Court to second-degree murder, alien in possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine. Soriano-Altamirano was sentenced to a total of 20.3 years in prison.

In late January Adams County deputies responded to a report of shots fired in the 100 block of Barton Road, northwest of Othello. Police were advised a female was shot in the head and the suspect, Soriano-Altamirano, “had threatened to kill others at the same location,” Sheriff Dale Wagner previously stated. Soriano-Altamirano fled the scene and was caught a short time later in Grant County by deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. He was booked into the Adams County Jail for murder and held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Adams County deputies responded to the Barton Road residence and located the victim, Bianca V. Espinoza, 27, of Othello, who had already passed away from a gunshot wound to her head.

“The sheriff’s office would like to express our most sincere condolences to the family of the victim,” the ACSO stated in a release.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.