Sentencing date for convicted murderer pushed back

It will most likely be months before convicted murderer Arthur Magana, 19, will be sent to prison.

Monday at a hearing in Superior Court, defense attorney David Gregan asked for a status review to be scheduled three months from now. This leaves Magana in the custody of the Pinal County Jail and not in the state prison system.

Magana was found guilty of killing 20-year-old Wyatt Miller. Magana’s friend Gustavo Olivo accepted a plea arrangement in November that resulted in a 25-year sentence.

In a trial, Magana was convicted of first-degree murder Nov. 19 after the jury heard evidence of how he shot Miller 11 times in the back of the head and neck on Nov. 7, 2016. The jury also found Magana guilty of armed robbery as Miller was killed during the theft of four ounces of marijuana.

Magana is accused of killing Miller inside his truck in a rural area of Maricopa, according to court testimony. Magana was just 16 years old at the time but is charged as an adult because it is a felony, which investigators called an assassination of Miller.

Magana was wearing a Pinal County Jail blue prison uniform in court Monday.

When Judge Kevin White asked if Magana’s case would be set for a sentencing hearing soon, Gregan said the defense, “was not even close” to a date.

As the prosecutor did not object, White set the matter for a status review on Sept. 9, at 1:30 p.m.