Prosecutors lose bid to seek death penalty against immigrant

PHOENIX (AP) — Prosecutors have lost another bid to seek the death penalty against a Mexican immigrant charged with murder in the 2015 shooting death of a convenience store clerk in metro Phoenix.

The Arizona Court of Appeals last week denied a request by prosecutors to reinstate their effort to seek the death penalty against Apolinar Altamirano in the killing of 21-year-old clerk Grant Ronnebeck.

Prosecutors had appealed a decision by a lower-court judge in early July that said prosecutors could no longer seek the death penalty because Altamirano is intellectually disabled.

The case against Altamirano has been cited by President Donald Trump, who has railed against crimes committed against American citizens by immigrants who are the United States illegally.

Altamirano has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in Ronnebeck's death.