KENT, Wash. — The family of Carl David Phelps told KIRO 7 they’re a step closer to closure after Alex Crisostomo pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing Phelps.
The murder happened following an argument in a Des Moines apartment parking lot on May 6, 2016.
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“Hopefully, we can move on and actually heal,” Jerri Phelps, his mother, told KIRO 7. “Because we haven’t healed and it’s been a year and a half.”
Crisostomo was 15 at the time of the murder and a judge ruled he should be tried as an adult. He and two other teenagers stole a gun from a house two weeks before the murder.
Phelps was 41 at the time of his death.
On Wednesday morning at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, a prosecutor read aloud a statement from Crisostomo admitting to the murder. Phelps’ family was glad he admitted the murder but his two sisters are not satisfied with the statement.
“I wanted to hear it out of his own mouth,” said Dotti Phelps.
“Stand up and look at us and tell us he took our brother,” said Dee Pruden. “I wanted him to tell it to our faces.”
Jerri Phelps says they’ve talked with Crisostomo’s family and have sympathy for what they’re dealing with. But she points out they at least still have their son.
Crisostomo will be back at the Regional Justice Center to be sentenced December 1. The recommended sentencing range was 20 years in prison, but the prosecutor and the defense attorney have agreed to recommend just over 13 years. It will be up to the judge.
“You can’t put time on somebody’s life,” Jerri Phelps said. “It’s never going to go away. There’s always going to be a hole in our heart.”
Cox Media Group
