Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for 2022 murder of Mesa teen

PHOENIX — A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for the 2022 murder of a Mesa teen. 

Joe Rim pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shooting 18-year-old Stephen Jacobo in 2022.

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In November 2022, Jacobo went to a party with friends when he was shot and killed.

Witnesses identified the shooter as Rim. He was arrested but released when the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office sent the case back to Mesa police. Investigators sent it back to MCAO two more times; however, both were rejected. Two years later, Rim was formally charged with second-degree murder and 10 additional counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Rim still faces sentencing for 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The judge said whatever Rim gets for those counts will run consecutively to those 15 years.

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