As Isaiah Bandin begins serving a 25-year prison sentence for a 2024 murder in the Maricopa Meadows, the public is seeing him for the first time.

Bandin pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of 16-year-old Esteban Valenzuela and reported to the Arizona Department of Corrections in December. He is now housed at the Lewis prison complex in Buckeye, according to state inmate records.

Bandin, 16 at the time of sentencing, was admitted to the prison Dec. 2 after being held at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center while awaiting trial.

Department of Corrections records list Bandin as a 5-foot-11, 169-pound Mexican-American male with brown hair and brown eyes. His custody classification is listed as medium or moderate. The records show a projected release date of Nov. 20, 2049.

Bandin was sentenced Nov. 17 in Pinal County Superior Court. Judge Jason Holmberg imposed a flat 25-year prison term after hearing statements from Valenzuela’s family. Bandin declined to address the court.

Because of his age, the court barred cameras from the proceedings and refused to release his mugshot. The Department of Corrections image now available is the first public image of him.

Correctional records show Bandin has been assigned work and programming while in custody. Those include groundskeeper duties beginning Dec. 15, 2025, and, as of Jan. 23, 2026, participation in “Fine Arts” and a “Circle of Support” assignment.

In the first public statement from a family member after Bandin’s transfer, a recent TikTok post described the move from county jail to state custody and urged supporters to contact authorities with information. The post garnered more than 280 likes.

“Yesterday 12/02/2025, you traveled from the Pinal County Adult Detention Center to your new destination a[t] AZ DOC facility which is at an adult prison complex but your [sic] now on a yard for juveniles who have been sentenced to prison time as an adult!” said Hannah Bandin, Isaiah’s mother. “Isaiah will stay at this facility till his 18th birthday and than [sic] be moved to a regular prison yard!

“I will continue to pray that things will change within the system and he will be able to participate in different programs to help reduce his prison sentence,” she wrote on the TikTok post of Bandin’s mugshot under the song Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood by the Animals. “I also pray that there will be a change in the ‘Felony Murder’ law in Arizona that we will continue to advocate for because that could set our boy Isaiah free and anyone else who has been wrongfully charged under this law in Arizona.”

The post ended with: “FREE ISAIAH.”

Bandin’s co-defendant, Eliot Jackson, now 18, has been charged with first-degree murder during the commission of a crime and armed robbery with a deadly weapon and is being tried as an adult. Jackson, 17 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to second-degree murder under a plea agreement that also calls for a 25-year prison term. Judge Holmberg accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for Feb. 2, when Valenzuela’s family is expected to address the court.

Under the plea deal, Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, a Class 1 felony, for Valenzuela’s death. Prosecutors and defense attorneys stipulated that Jackson will be sentenced to 25 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections, with no eligibility for early release through probation.

The agreement lists aggravating factors including the presence of an accomplice, emotional harm to the victim’s family and the victim’s age. Additional charges will be dismissed as part of the deal.

Authorities said the case stemmed from a planned armed robbery near Dirk Street and Dancer Lane that ended with Valenzuela being shot while sitting in a car. Investigators later determined the teens intended to rob another 16-year-old, identified in court as Sergio Michael Munoz, and that Valenzuela was killed when the robbery did not go as planned.

Two additional juveniles, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, were also charged in connection with the killing. Their identities and charges remain sealed unless prosecutors seek to try them as adults.

Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller has previously cited the case as part of broader concerns about youth violence, saying, “Teen violence is out of hand and will not be tolerated.”

Hannah Bandin did not respond to requests for comment.