BEDFORD, Va. – An emotional ending Tuesday to nearly six years of trials relating to the death of 17-year-old Raymond Wood back in 2017.
The sentencing for Josue Coreas-Ventura ended in two consecutive life sentences plus an additional ten years — which is the maximum sentence. This comes after Coreas-Ventura’s guilty verdict from February of last year.
Commonwealth Attorney Wes Nance says this is the best outcome they could have hoped for.
”It’s hard to say you’d be pleased with an outcome because we take no pleasure in a case of this outcome and such a horrific nature,” Nance said. “But we are satisfied with the results that we received.”
For Raymond’s mom, Marjorie Stagno, it’s the completion of nearly six long years on the road to justice.
“Justice was served on the behalf of my son, Raymond Charles, and my family,” Stagno said. “Even so, it does not take away from the horrors and loss we have suffered.”
Stagno spoke directly to Coreas-Ventura in court.
“You finally got caught. You did not murder a weak boy, from a weak mom, in a weak community,” Stagno said.
The defense argued a history of emotional trauma and brain damage, but ultimately the judge determined his leadership in Wood’s murder.
“This was outrageously and wickedly vile horrible, inhumane in that it invoked torture, the depravity of mind, and an aggravated battery to the victim,” the judge said.
This wraps up a total of five convictions of MS-13 gang members in connection to Wood’s murder.