A man in South Dakota claimed he killed a woman with a can of beans because he heard his Denver Broncos jersey rip during an argument.
Pedro Simental, 45, has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after he struck and killed 40-year-old Edleigha Little on November 8, 2023, with a can of beans.
Simental plead guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter and said he committed the violent act after he heard his jersey rip whilst the two had been arguing at a motel.
On the night of their altercation, Rapid City Police responded to a woman with ‘suspicious injuries’ at around 3am after she was transported to the emergency room from the Stardust Motel in Rapid City.
Police found Little unconscious with significant bruising to her head, neck and face, reported KOTATV.
She was pronounced dead from her injuries hours later, and her autopsy revealed she had died from ‘significant blunt force trauma’ to the left side of her head.
Simental had been at the motel when first responders arrived. While he ‘did not implicate himself’ in his initial interview, he told investigators in a follow up interview that the two had gotten into an argument on the night.
He further admitted that the argument turned into a physical fight, and he ‘may have struck the victim in the left side of her head with a can,’ prosecutors said according to Law & Crime.
Pedro Simental, 45, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter after he struck and killed 40-year-old Edleigha Little on November 8, 2023, with a can of beans
The pair had been reportedly arguing at the Stardust Motel in Rapid City, South Dakota, where Simental had allegedly heard his Denver Broncos jersey rip as she grabbed it
Little’s niece spoke at a hearing on Monday, and said her aunt was a ‘caring, thoughtful person’ and accused Simental of regularly abusing Little
His chilling reason for striking her, he told investigators, was because she had grabbed his Denver Broncos jersey, and he had heard the clothing tear.
During his trial, Simental’s attorney had highlighted Little’s ‘numerous pre-existing health conditions’ and argued that these made her more vulnerable to the ‘single, reckless blow’ that caused her death, according to the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office.
His attorney had argued that Little’s hematoma could have been spontaneous due to her alleged ‘severe’ alcoholism over multiple years, reported Law & Crime.
The State’s Attorney, Senior Deputy Roxanne Hammond, expressed concerns over Simental’s ‘lack of accountability’ and specifically highlighted his pre-sentence investigation showed ‘little to no responsibility for his role in her death.’
Little’s niece spoke at a hearing on Monday, and said her aunt was a ‘caring, thoughtful person’.
She further accused Simental of regularly abusing Little and asked the judge to impose a lengthy sentence so that he could not ‘do this to another woman and her family.’
Simental was sentenced to 15 years in prison and is currently held at the Pennington County Jail in South Dakota.