- Alejandro Manuel Moore was sentenced to 16 years to life for the murder of Anthony Bracamonte, whose body was found by I-80.
- Third District Judge Douglas Hogan emphasized the deliberate nature of the crime and its effect on multiple family members.
- Bracamonte's family members talked about how his loss has impacted their lives.
TOOELE — Sophia Ramirez said she lost the person who made her feel beautiful during a sentencing hearing for the man who killed Anthony Bracamonte.
"I have lost my best friend, my partner and the love of my life. But what causes the most pain is I will never get to see my child's face light up the way it did when her father walked into the room. ... Anthony was her whole world. She will never get to know how truly special her father was," Sophia Ramirez said.
He taught her about love, family and togetherness. She said Moore didn't just take someone they loved, but robbed her family of future memories.
Ramirez asked for the maximum sentence, saying she does not want their daughter to need to fear that Moore will further affect her life.
Alejandro Manuel Moore, 34, was sentenced Tuesday to a term of 16 years to life in prison for murder and six years to life for felony discharge of a firearm, first-degree felonies, in addition to one to 15 years for obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. He was also sentenced to one year in jail for possession of a deadly weapon with intent to commit assault, and given credit for years he has already spent in jail for that year.
Bracamonte, 42, of Ogden, was shot and killed in February 2023. His body was found by a driver on the west side of I-80 in Tooele about 2 miles from the turnoff to Grantsville. A jury found Moore guilty of his murder on Jan. 16 following a four-day trial.
Third District Judge Douglas Hogan told him the offenses carry very serious penalties because of the gravity of the harm they caused.
"Some crimes have a path to make someone whole, fix the wrong. When a life is lost, it's impossible," he said.
Hogan said sometimes the loss of life comes from a "tragic mistake," but in this case it was "deliberate."
"There was time to think about and contemplate and then act," he said.
Because of that, the judge said consecutive sentences best meet justice. He also said there were multiple secondary victims from people who cared about Bracamonte.
Defense attorney Bradley Schofield had asked for the minimum mandatory sentence, and for sentences for separate crimes to run at the same time. He said Moore had a minimal criminal record.
Assistant attorney general Colleen Magee argued otherwise, saying the wounds show Bracamonte was shot from further away and then from close up. She said he could have just left him on the road without shooting him.
"It wasn't just one shot to take someone's life, it was six shots. And then walking up to him and six more shots to make sure Anthony was dead," she said.
Magee said he took steps to cover up what he had done, taking the gun apart and throwing it out the window, and lying to police.
Reyna Bracamonte hadn't been able to see her brother for a while before he was killed, and because of Moore's actions, she won't see him again. She and other family members asked for the longest possible sentence. Reyna Bracamonte said there was "nothing minimum" about Moore's actions.
"You took away something very precious. You made a coward move," she said.
Moore was her brother's friend, she said, and her brother did not deserve to be shot so many times and left by the side of the road.
"All I ask is for justice, because what you did was wrong. He had no defense," Reyna Bracamonte said.
Multiple others said Anthony Bracamonte held their family together and would always check in on his family members to see how he could help them.
David Tenis pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor, in connection to the case in January. He was given credit for the time he already spent in jail and released.
Tenis told police Anthony Bracamonte and Moore began fighting and stopped the car, continuing the fight on the side of the road. At some point during the confrontation, he said Moore fired shots.
Moore's mother, Johnnie Marie Estrada who was also in the car, pleaded guilty on March 2 to two counts of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, under a plea deal that dismissed two additional counts. She was sentenced to 60 days in jail, but that sentence was suspended. Estrada also received credit for time she spent in jail.
