Guilty pleas entered in murder of Quincy teenager
Columbia Basin Herald/file photo Noel Cardenas, 19, of Quincy.
QUINCY — A Quincy man who was 17 when he shot and killed a 17-year-old boy has entered guilty pleas to premeditated murder and attempted assault.
Noel Cardenas, now 19, of Quincy, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to first-degree murder (premeditated) and first-degree attempted assault. An Oct. 30 date has been set for Cardenas’ sentencing hearing. The prosecution and defense are recommending 425.25 months, over 35 years, in prison, but that decision ultimately falls under the discretion of a judge when it comes to imposing a sentence.
On Feb. 25, 2017 a Quincy Police Department officer was on patrol and reported seeing a male holding a rifle near an alley between I Street Southwest and J Street Southwest a few moments after hearing gunshots. The suspect, Cardenas, fired three more shots, one of which hit and killed 17-year-old Jahleel Munnings. Two more shots were then fired, one of which struck the male Munnings was with in the shoulder.
Cardenas then hopped into a Chevrolet Malibu and disappeared. The male who was shot in the shoulder told investigators he was walking with Munnings and they were passed by a green car, believed to be Cardenas in the Malibu, twice.
He said the second time the vehicle passed the driver went in front of where he and Munnings were walking. The victim said it was then that Cardenas came running out of an alley with a shotgun. Cardenas allegedly yelled “you’re (Munnings) the one that broke into my house” and opened fire at the teenager.
The victim said out of the gate that he believed Cardenas was the shooter. He relayed a story from about a month before the shooting in reference to Cardenas accusing Munnings of breaking into his house. Cardenas’ mother informed police her son took her vehicle without permission and about 20 minutes later he called her and told her to report the vehicle as stolen. She said Cardenas told her he shot someone after someone pulled a gun on him. Cardenas was taken into custody a few weeks later near George.